The judge should consider the checklist of relevant matters in the statute in a residence application even though no complaint was made by the parties. The use of the checklist can assist a court in obtaining clarity in its reasoning. Thoough an appeal court should be slow to interfere in a judge’s decision where his decision had been finely balanced, it was particularly in such cases that judges should set out their judgments more clearly. In this case neither the court nor the parties could discern the reasons behind the judgment, and it could not stand. Whilst the reference to the checklist should not be mechanical, that was not a good reason for not going through it.
Judges:
Potter LJ, Holman J
Citations:
Times 06-Jun-1997
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – In re N (Minors: Residence) CA 18-Apr-1995
Hopeless appeals on residence orders require detachment and objectivity from legal advisers. Particularly in finely balanced matters a court of appeal should be slower to interfere in a decision. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Children
Updated: 05 November 2022; Ref: scu.78047