Reflections from the Jersey International Child Law Conference 2025

A Global Discussion on Hair Testing in Family Law Cases 

On March 14, 2025, legal professionals from across the UK, Jersey, Guernsey, and beyond gathered for the Jersey Child Law Conference hosted by Corbett Le Quesne law firm, an essential event for those involved in family and child law. The conference provided a platform for barristers, solicitors, judges, and child welfare specialists to explore key issues affecting vulnerable children in legal proceedings. A major focus of the discussions this year was drug and alcohol testing; particularly the role of hair strand analysis in child law cases. 

The Role of Hair Testing in Child Law Cases 

Hair drug and alcohol testing has become an essential tool in family law proceedings, particularly in cases involving concerns over parental substance misuse. During the panel discussions, experts delved into the benefits and challenges of hair testing, including its reliability, interpretation, and its role in court decisions. Attendees engaged in thought-provoking debates on how hair testing results can influence custody and care proceedings helping courts assess a parent’s long-term substance use patterns. 

However, while hair testing is widely used, discussions also highlighted its limitations, such as external contamination risks, potential misinterpretations, and the importance of setting appropriate cut-off levels to distinguish between actual drug use and environmental exposure. 

Understanding Hair Drug Testing Cut-Off Levels 

One of the key takeaways from the conference was the need for legal professionals to understand cut-off levels in hair drug testing. Cut-off levels are scientifically established thresholds that assist experts in interpreting test results. As explained in this blog post, setting cut-off values ensures helps in reducing false positive but, it is important not to over rely on. Misinterpreting these levels could lead to unjust conclusions in family law proceedings, affecting parental rights and child welfare decisions. It is important to add that as per the recommendation for the scientific community and the SoHT, cut offs are not to be used in drug facilitated crimes (DFC) and children cases.  

The Importance of Expert Contributions in Family Law Cases 

This year’s conference also reflected on significant legal precedents and expert contributions in forensic toxicology. Dr. Salah Breidi’s work in the Re H (Care Proceedings: Drug Testing) [2017] EWFC 64 case was highlighted as a crucial example of how forensic drug testing can impact care proceedings. His detailed forensic analysis of the drug results played a key role in clarifying the limitations of toxicology and the necessity of contextual interpretation of the mother’s drug findings in court cases, especially when other factors such as external exposure and historic use may have an impact on the case. 

107 thousand children are in care, the same as the population of Jersey, by Lord Justice Peter Jackson. Lord Justice Peter Jackson provided intriguing data and analysis regarding drug abuse in family cases including the importance of evaluating all evidence and role of the expert interpretation on care proceedings, highlighting the necessity of strict testing guidelines and cautious judicial evaluation of forensic evidence. The conversation also emphasised the value of the Family Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC) in helping families who are dealing with substance abuse, emphasising that it takes a rehabilitative approach rather than merely imposing sanctions. 

The Legal Profession’s Commitment to Advancing Forensic Knowledge 

Seeing how hard the legal community is working to improve its knowledge of forensic toxicology was one of the conference's most encouraging features. Legal professionals are actively expanding their knowledge to ensure they can appropriately evaluate and interpret test results as hair drug and alcohol testing plays an increasingly significant role in child law cases. 

According to Dr. Salah Breidi, "the legal profession has obviously developed the skills necessary to understand the tests and their outcomes and is now working much more closely with testing laboratories." This is a great advantage for justice, because knowledgeable legal professionals can now more successfully contest, interpret, and use forensic evidence in court, this is a huge benefit for justice. 

This shift is a significant step forward in ensuring that forensic evidence is used fairly, accurately, and responsibly in legal proceedings helping to safeguard the welfare of children and uphold justice. 

Dr. Salah’s Expert Advice for Effective Testing and Reporting 

Reports from forensic toxicology are essential to court cases, especially those involving family law and childcare. With their longer detection windows, hair and nail testing offer vital information that helps make informed decisions to uphold the rule of law. To ensure clarity and dependability in their findings, experts must have the requisite experience and knowledge to appropriately interpret and report results. Inconclusion, the results in forensic toxicology are not to be used in isolation in a family law and care proceedings cases, but in conjunction with other evidence or medical assessments or reports. 

The Growing Importance of Hair Testing in Legal Cases 

The Jersey Child Law Conference once again demonstrated the growing reliance on forensic toxicology in family law. Hair testing provides historical insight into drug and alcohol use, making it invaluable in cases where long-term patterns of substance misuse are in question. While no single test can provide a complete picture, hair analysis remains one of the most powerful tools available for courts to make informed decisions about child welfare and parental fitness. 

Events like the Jersey Child Law Conference are essential in helping to bridge the gap between science and the law as legal professionals continue to expand their knowledge of forensic science. The legal community can guarantee the efficient and equitable use of forensic evidence in child law cases by encouraging dialogue on best practices, new issues, and scientific developments. 

For those interested in learning more about hair testing, forensic toxicology, and its application in family law, visit our AttoLife blog.