Miss W appealed refusal of leave to be made party to care proceedings in respect of her niece. She had wanted to make representations and felt that if not a party her views would not be respected. The application was opposed by the authority and the guardian, but supported by the mother and other family members.
Held: She required leave to apply. The considerations for this kind of application should be the same for both private law and public law proceedings. The list in 10(9)(a) to (d) is not an exclusive list, and the court retains a discretion aftre a full inquiry. Where the interests of the applying party were identical to those of an existing party the application would be likely to fail.
Judges:
Sumner J
Citations:
Times 22-Nov-2004
Statutes:
European Convention on Human Rights 6 8, Children Act 1989 94(1)
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – In Re M (Minors In Care) (Contact: Grandmother’s Application) CA 21-Apr-1995
A grandmother must seek leave of the court before applying for contact with a child in the care of the Local Authority. An application should be dismissed it it is frivolous, vexatious or an abuse of process and/or failed to show any reasonable . .
Cited – In re J (Leave to issue application for residence order) 2003
An application was made by a family member (a grandparent) to be joined as a party to care proceedings.
Held: A court should not dismiss such an application without proper inquiry. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Children, Human Rights
Updated: 30 April 2022; Ref: scu.219640