The applicant wanted to go to South Africa to study, taking her child with her. The course would last for two years.
Held: The jurisprudence on removing children abroad had to be applied differently when the removal was temporary. Some considerations would not be relevant, and the test would not be as high. The court had to be practical and balance the various interests.

Judges:

Thorpe LJ, Wall LJ, Black LJ

Citations:

Times 10-Nov-2004

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Payne v Payne; P v P CA 13-Feb-2001
No presumption for Mother on Relocation
The mother applied for leave to return to New Zealand taking with the parties’ daughter aged four. The father opposed the move, saying that allowing the move would infringe his and the child’s right to family life. He had been refused residence.
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children

Updated: 09 May 2022; Ref: scu.219427

The father sought the return to the USA of his daughter, brought here by her mother. The father had custody, but the mother said he had consented to the child being brought here.
Held: The issue of consent did not affect the question of the unlawfulness of the original abduction, but was relevant only when the judge came ask whether he should exercise his discretion. Article 13 should take its place as the exception to the general duty to return a child. Article 3 governed the entire Convention. The rights given by the New York courts were the ones which governed the question of what rights existed. The court was abundantly satisfied that C v C and the subsequent decisions in England to the same effect were right.

Judges:

Ward, Scott Baker LJJ, Lawrence Collins J

Citations:

Times 19-Aug-2004, [2005] Fam 293

Statutes:

Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction 12 13

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Approved – C v C (Minor:Abduction: Rights of Custody Abroad) CA 1989
The English mother married the Australian father in Australia and bore their child their. After divorce both parents had custody with no right to remove the child. The mother brought the child to England without the father’s consent.
Held: The . .

Cited by:

Cited – In re D (A Child), (Abduction: Rights of Custody) HL 16-Nov-2006
The child had been born to parents who married and later divorced in Romania. The mother brought him to England without the father’s consent, and now appealed an order for his return.
Held: The mother’s appeal succeeded. The Convention . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children

Updated: 09 May 2022; Ref: scu.200440

The father applying for contact had had very little contact with his children for seven years.
Held: In a case involving persistent opposition by a mother to co-operation with a court in allowing contact, the case should be transferred to the High Court. Where a mother failed to co-operate with family therapy, it may lead to adverse inferences against her in the proceedings.

Judges:

Thorpe LJ, Bennett J

Citations:

Times 28-May-2004

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 09 May 2022; Ref: scu.197898

A child appealed an order for him to be returned to Croatia to be with his father. The mother had returned to England believing this to be her home.
Held: In such cases where the court might make an order under the 1989 Act for residence with the mother, all the information necessary to such a determination should be before the court. In the unusual circumstances of the child himself appealing, he should have had separate legal representation.

Judges:

Wall LJ, Gage J

Citations:

Times 12-Apr-2004

Statutes:

Hague Convention on International Child Abduction A13, Child Abduction and Custody act 1985

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 09 May 2022; Ref: scu.195577

A shared residence order had been made for two small children, even though the parents lived a considerable distance apart.
Held: The decision was correct. The distance did not prevent dividing the children’s year between the two homes. A shared residence order had to reflect the underlying reality of where the children lived their lives, and was not made to deal with parental status. Any lingering idea that a shared residence order was apt only where the children alternated between the two homes evenly was erroneous. If the home offered by each parent was of equal status and importance to the children an order for shared residence would be valuable.

Citations:

[2003] 2 FLR 397

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – A Father (Mr A) v A Mother (Mrs A); Their Two Children (B And C) FD 4-Feb-2004
After a divorce, the father sought a joint residence order for the two young children. The mother alleged sexually inappropriate behaviour by the father. The court found this allegation clearly untrue. The dispute was bitter and protracted. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children

Updated: 09 May 2022; Ref: scu.195886

There were three children, a boy and two girls. The girls lived with their mother and the boy lived with his father. The boy was unwilling to see his mother, and was not doing so. The father appealed a shared residence order in her favour.
Held: Hale LJ said: ‘the law is that the parents already have shared parental responsibility for their children. They have equal and independent power to exercise that parental responsibility. A residence order is about where a child is to live. It is very difficult to make such an order about a child who is not only not living with one of the parents but is, for the foreseeable future, unlikely even to visit with that parent. Notwithstanding, therefore, that that parent does not wish there to be any distinction between the children, because she does not wish M to feel rejected by her, the court’s order has to be designed to reflect the real position on the ground.’

Judges:

Hale LJ

Citations:

[2002] 1 FCR 177

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – A Father (Mr A) v A Mother (Mrs A); Their Two Children (B And C) FD 4-Feb-2004
After a divorce, the father sought a joint residence order for the two young children. The mother alleged sexually inappropriate behaviour by the father. The court found this allegation clearly untrue. The dispute was bitter and protracted. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children

Updated: 09 May 2022; Ref: scu.195885

Mother’s appeal from care and placement orders

Citations:

[2018] EWCA Civ 2761

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 09 May 2022; Ref: scu.631167

A mother of three children, who was pregnant with her fourth child, accompanied the father on a visit to Bangladesh. After their arrival the father announced his intention to remain there and refused to hand over the passports of the mother and children. As a result the fourth child was born in Bangladesh. The mother applied for his return to the UK
Held: Although the youngest child had been born in Bangladesh, she was habitually resident in the United Kingdom, because it was the habitual residence of her parents. The father’s unilateral decision not to return to the United Kingdom had not altered that fact.
To erect a positive rule that physical presence was a necessary prerequisite to establishing an habitual residence ran ‘counter to the proposition . . . that habitual residence is, or is primarily, an issue of fact and is not an artificial concept’.

Judges:

Charles J

Citations:

[2002] 1 FLR 388

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – A v A and another (Children) (Children: Habitual Residence) (Reunite International Child Abduction Centre intervening) SC 9-Sep-2013
Acquisition of Habitual Residence
Habitual residence can in principle be lost and another habitual residence acquired on the same day.
Held: The provisions giving the courts of a member state jurisdiction also apply where there is an alternative jurisdiction in a non-member . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children

Updated: 09 May 2022; Ref: scu.588975

The court considered the standard of evidence required to satisfy the threshold condition under the Act: ‘The inescapable construction of section 31, in my judgment, is that the court has to be satisfied by evidence that the significant harm suffered by the child is attributable to the care, or absence of care, given to the child by the parent against whom the order is sought.’

Judges:

Waller J

Citations:

[1995] Fam 16

Statutes:

Children Act 1989 31

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Lancashire County Council and Another v B and Others; Lancashire County Council v A HL 16-Mar-2000
A seven month old child had been injured, but it was not possible to establish whether this had taken place whilst with her parents or with a child minder. The Council brought care proceedings also for the minder’s own child B.
Held: Even . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children

Updated: 09 May 2022; Ref: scu.191137

After a judgment the parties sought to appeal.
Held: The judge had failed to make a finding on a critical issue in the case, namely whether or not the mother of the child concerned had ‘even if prompted only at a subconscious level, nevertheless deliberately engaged in alienation.’ Whilst some circumstances might require an application for leave to appeal direct to the Court of Appeal, the parties should normally always first apply for leave to the judge whose decision was to be appealed. Where possible the question of appeal should be addressed in advance, so as to allow the judge when giving his opinion to give appropriately detailed reasons. When judgment was given, an advocate ought immediately to draw the judge’s attention to any material omission of which he was aware.
The court discussed the need to re-examine the failure to enforce contact orders: ‘I reject [counsel’s] dismissive submission that the Strasbourg cases add nothing to the domestic jurisprudence. Those cases as they stand suggest that the methods and levels of investigation that our courts have conventionally adopted when trying out issues of alienation may not meet the standards that Arts 6 and 8 . . require. There are policy issues here that the Government and the judiciary may need to consider collaboratively.’

Judges:

Thorpe, Rix, Arden LLJ

Citations:

Times 30-Oct-2002, [2002] EWCA Civ 1736, [2003] 1 FLR 531

Statutes:

Civil Procedure Rules Part 52

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Sahin v Germany ECHR 11-Oct-2001
When considering the issues of an adoption against the wishes of the parents, there is an apparent difference of emphasis between saying that the child’s interests are of ‘paramount importance’, and saying that they merely ‘may, depending on their . .
Cited – Sommerfeld v Germany ECHR 11-Oct-2001
Hudoc Judgment (Merits and just satisfaction) Violation of Art. 8; Violation of Art. 14+8; Violation of Art. 6-1; Non-pecuniary damage – financial award; Costs and expenses partial award – domestic proceedings . .

Cited by:

Cited – F v M FD 1-Apr-2004
The court considered the ‘ongoing debate’ about the court’s role in contact disputes. ‘this case illustrates all too uncomfortably the failings of the system. There is much wrong with our system and the time has come for us to recognise that fact . .
Cited – In re W (A Child); AW v SW CA 30-Oct-2008
The father sought leave to appeal against an order made on his application for contact. The mother appeared to have encouraged great hostility in the children toward the father. The court had decided that the children were aroaching ages when they . .
Cited – ZM v JM; Re M (children) (fact-finding hearing: burden of proof); In re M (a Child) (Non-accidental injury: Burden of proof) CA 19-Nov-2008
When a court considered which of two parents might be responsible for a non-accidental injury to their child, what the court cannot do is decide that one parent is the perpetrator but that the other parent cannot be excluded as the perpetrator. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children, Civil Procedure Rules

Updated: 08 May 2022; Ref: scu.177843

Three experts had been unanimous as to their characterisation of the father’s personality as disordered.
Held: A judge could, with caution, depart from the conclusions of the experts as to the plan for the future care of a child. Here, however, the issue was as to the personal impressions of the father as he appeared in the witness box, as against the professional opinions. If the judge did wish to depart from a care plan, he should give his reasons for doing so.

Judges:

Lord Justice Thorpe, Lord Justice Robert Walker and Lady Justice Arden

Citations:

Times 24-Jul-2002

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 08 May 2022; Ref: scu.174418

A Children and Family reporter became concerned at the possibility of abuse of children as a result of information gained whilst involved in private law proceedings. He sought to report those concerns to the statutory authorities. It had become clear that it was crucially important that professions within the child care professions must communicate properly with each other. It would not be contempt of court under the 1989 Act. However the reporter must be careful to examine the nature and reliability of the report, and it would be unusual for it to be appropriate to report matters heard at second hand, but must in any event report his actions at the earliest possible opportunity to the judge in the matter in which he was employed. The court considered what was the nature of publication: ‘Both section 12 of the 1060 Act and section 97 of the 1989 Act raise the same question: what is meant by publication? Mr Spon-Smith offers us the definition in the Shorter Oxford Dictionary. Mr Everall counters with Arlidge, Eady and Smith on Contempt, 2nd ed (1999), para 8-79. The authors there submit that the statutory language should be given the wide interpretation of the law of defamation: it should not be confined to information communicated through the media but should extend to private communications to individuals. I do not read a narrower sense in the dictionary definition and would accept that a conversation between the CFR and another individual might amount to publication, but I cannot accept that a CFR publishes, and thereby exposes himself to a risk of contempt, when he reports concerns to the relevant statutory authority charged with the collection and investigation of material suggestive of child abuse. Such a communication between two professionals exchanging information in the course of their respective functions, each acting in furtherance of the protection of children, does not constitute a publication breaching the privacy of contemporaneous Children Act proceedings.’

Judges:

Lord Justice Thorpe and Mr Justice Wall

Citations:

Times 23-Aug-2002, Gazette 10-Oct-2002, [2002] EWCA Civ 1199, [2003] Fam 26

Statutes:

Administration of Justice Act 1960 12, Children Act 1989 97

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Kent County Council v The Mother, The Father, B (By Her Children’s Guardian); Re B (A Child) (Disclosure) FD 19-Mar-2004
The council had taken the applicant’s children into care alleging that the mother had harmed them. In the light of the subsequent cases casting doubt on such findings, the mother sought the return of her children. She applied now that the hearings . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children, Contempt of Court

Updated: 08 May 2022; Ref: scu.174734

In the light of the new Human Rights law, a supervision order would be preferable to a care order where a local authority sought to protect a child in the light of allegations of abuse or lack of care. Case law predating the new Act would not now be good guidance. The making of a care order would be severe in three respects: it would give power to allow the authority to remove a child, power to take parental control and responsibility, and to take such responsibilities over a longer period of time. Any such arrangements must be proportionate to the threat, and a supervision order should normally be sufficient.

Citations:

Times 20-Feb-2001

Statutes:

Human Rights Act 1998, Children Act 1989

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 08 May 2022; Ref: scu.82079

It should be routine that, when presenting a case before a court to apply for a care order, the applicant authority should provide a written statement of the reasons, upon which it argued that the threshold conditions had been met. That statement should be based upon the evidence available at the time the decision to apply was made, and the authority must show that the threshold had been crossed when the application was made. After-acquired evidence might be included, but the authority should not set out only in the hope that evidence would turn up. Even so, the court must allow for the continually changing situation against which such applications are made, and admit evidence accordingly.

Citations:

Times 05-Jul-2001, Gazette 12-Jul-2001

Statutes:

Children Act 1989 31(2)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 08 May 2022; Ref: scu.81899

The child was made subject to an interim care order. On the application to renew the interim order, the judge decided to limit the matters to be considered to matters which had changes since the last hearing. This was not something to be derived from the Act, but from the ability of the court to control its own procedures. Such hearings might limit the matters considered to significant changes since the last hearing, and any impact those changes might have on the grounds listed in the Act.

Citations:

Times 28-Jun-2001

Statutes:

Children Act 1989 38(2)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 08 May 2022; Ref: scu.81710

Where there was a conflict of interest between a child and his or her parents in private family proceedings, it was appropriate to order that a guardian ad litem should be appointed. Court Welfare Officer’s reports could not always sufficiently reflect the needs of the child. In this case there had been allegations of sexual abuse made against the father by the mother, and there were possible mental health and other family problems. The daughter needed clear separate representation.

Citations:

Times 28-Feb-2001

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 08 May 2022; Ref: scu.81618

Fact finding hearing within proceedings brought by a father for a child arrangements order with respect to his son aged 5. The child is living with his mother at a location some way away from where the father is living.

Judges:

The Hon Mrs Justice Judd

Citations:

[2020] EWFC 83

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 08 May 2022; Ref: scu.656380

Judges:

Mrs Justice Lieven DBE

Citations:

[2020] EWHC 3107 (Fam)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 08 May 2022; Ref: scu.656337

Judges:

Mrs Justice Lieven DBE

Citations:

[2020] EWHC 2801 (Fam)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 08 May 2022; Ref: scu.656331

Citations:

[2014] EWCA Civ 1406

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 08 May 2022; Ref: scu.538189

Judges:

Patten, Rimer, Thorpe LJJ

Citations:

[2013] EWCA Civ 232

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Appeal from – A v A and another (Children) (Children: Habitual Residence) (Reunite International Child Abduction Centre intervening) SC 9-Sep-2013
Acquisition of Habitual Residence
Habitual residence can in principle be lost and another habitual residence acquired on the same day.
Held: The provisions giving the courts of a member state jurisdiction also apply where there is an alternative jurisdiction in a non-member . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children

Updated: 08 May 2022; Ref: scu.525978

The court considered an applicaion for the termination of parental resonsibility for the father.

Judges:

Singer J

Citations:

[1995] 3 FCR 753

Statutes:

Children Act 1989

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 08 May 2022; Ref: scu.523339

Hedley J considered a Californian surrogacy arrangement in which USD $23,000 was paid.
Held: Hedley J considered the issue of authorisation in respect of a payment for a commercial surrogacy arrangement and set out further the approach the court should take: ‘there is a problem for the courts of this country in that it raises the question of what the proper approach is where those who cannot do something lawfully in this country that they wish to do, go overseas to do it perfectly lawfully according to the country in which the surrogacy is carried into effect and then seek the retrospective approval of this country for something which, as I say, could not have been done here. This clearly raises matters of public policy and those matters really relate to, as it seems to me, three things:
(1) To ensuring that commercial surrogacy agreements are not used to circumvent childcare laws in this country, so as to result in the approval of arrangements in favour of people who would not have been approved as parents under any set of existing arrangements in this country.
(2) The court should be astute not to be involved in anything that looks like the simple payment for effectively buying children overseas. That has been ruled out in this country and the court should not be party to any arrangements which effectively allow that.
(3) The court should be astute to ensure that sums of money which might look modest in themselves are not in fact of such a substance that they overbear the will of a surrogate.
The last consideration, of course, is not one which is applicable to a case involving the United Kingdom and the state of California. It may, and does, arise in other contexts. The first two considerations, however, do.’

Judges:

Hedley J

Citations:

[2009] EWHC 2977 (Fam), [2010] 1 FLR 1156

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – D and L (Minors Surrogacy), Re FD 28-Sep-2012
The children had been born in India to a surrogate mother. The biological father and his civil partner sought a parental order. The mother could not be found to give her consent. She had been provided anonymously through a clinic.
Held: The . .
Cited – In re X (A Child) (Surrogacy: Time Limit) FD 3-Oct-2014
Extension of Time for Parental Order
The court considered the making of a parental order in respect of a child through surrogacy procedures outside the time limits imposed by the 2008 Act. The child had been born under Indian surrogacy laws. The commissioning parents (now the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children

Updated: 08 May 2022; Ref: scu.466292

In ravishment of ward, the defendant pleads not guilty, the jury finds the defendant guilty, but they find moreover, that pending the writ, the plaintiff seised the Ward ; the plaintiff has judgment, this judgment was affirmed in error. The defendant might have pleaded, that the plaintiff seised the ward pending the writ ; and this would have abated the writ ; for the words of the writ or ravishment are, that the sheriff shall seise the ward ad reddendum cui reddi debit. In this case the jury found the ravishment, which is the issue ; the finding of the seizure is superfluous, and out of the issue. The law is the same in the like case in waste, and ejectment.
Superflua non nocent.

Citations:

[1220] EngR 106, (1220-1623) Jenk 183, (1220) 145 ER 122 (C)

Links:

Commonlii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 08 May 2022; Ref: scu.461018

Waite J discussed the propriety of a 13 year old attending the family proceedings court in a care application, saying: ‘I think it would be a pity if the presence of children as young as this at the hearing of High Court appeals from magistrates in family proceedings were to be allowed to develop unquestioningly into a settled practice. Most of the children concerned in care proceedings have only become involved in the first place because of some past or anticipated experience which threatens the stability and lightness of heart which could be called the national birthright of every child. I would have thought that to sit for hours, or it may be even days, listening to lawyers debating one’s future is not an experience that should in normal circumstances be wished upon any child as young as this.’

Judges:

Waite J

Citations:

[1993] 1 FLR 832

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – In Re W (A Minor) (Secure Accommodation Order: Attendance At Court) FD 13-Jul-1994
A 10 year old child may be present in court on an application relating to him in exceptional circumstances.
Held: The child’s appeal was dismissed. Natural justice did not demand the child’s presence in court, and that the rules allowed the . .
Cited – In re K (A Child) FD 16-May-2011
The court was asked whether K, a 13-year-old girl, should attend the hearing of an application by her local authority to keep her in secure accommodation for three months. She wanted to be at the hearing, but the local authority opposed her . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children

Updated: 08 May 2022; Ref: scu.439810

Wilson LJ considered a declaration on International Family Relocation from March 2010 in Washington and said: ‘In that the principal charge against our guidance, as it stands, is that it ascribes too great a significance to the effect on the child of the negative impact upon the applicant of refusal of the application, one is interested to discern the way in which, in [4] of the declaration, that factor is addressed. One finds (does one not?) that it is not squarely addressed at all. The closest to any address of it is to be found in (viii), namely ‘the impact of grant or refusal on the child, in the context of his or her extended family, education and social life, and on the parties’. Some may share my initial perplexity even at the terminology of (viii) in that it appears to train the consideration of the court not only upon impact ‘on the child’ but also, and by way of contra-distinction, upon impact ‘on the parties’ apparently irrespective of impact on the child. It is axiomatic that our notion of paramountcy excludes from consideration all factors which have no bearing on the child. But, that possible curiosity apart, there is no square address in (viii) of the impact upon the child likely to flow from negative impact upon the applicant of refusal of the application. Indeed the reference to the child’s extended family, education and social life, seems almost to draw attention away from such a factor. I wonder whether consideration may need to be given as to whether, if the present law of England and Wales does indeed perhaps place excessive weight upon that factor, paragraph 4 of the declaration, as presently drawn, by contrast places insufficient weight upon it.’
As to the decision in Payne, he said: ‘one must beware of endorsing a parody of the decision. Both Thorpe LJ, at para 26(a), and Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss P, at para 85(a), stressed that, in the determination of applications for permission to relocate, the welfare of the child was the paramount consideration. It is only against the subsidiary guidance to be collected from Payne that criticisms can perhaps more easily be levelled.’

Judges:

Wilson LJ

Citations:

Lawtel 19-May-2010

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Payne v Payne; P v P CA 13-Feb-2001
No presumption for Mother on Relocation
The mother applied for leave to return to New Zealand taking with the parties’ daughter aged four. The father opposed the move, saying that allowing the move would infringe his and the child’s right to family life. He had been refused residence.

Cited by:

Cited – In re AR (A Child: Relocation) FD 10-Jun-2010
Both parents had parental responsibility. The French mother wished to return to live in France and to take the five year old child with her, applying to court for the appropriate order.
Held: The court pointed to the real difficulties always . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children

Updated: 08 May 2022; Ref: scu.417785

The justices had found that a child was likely to suffer significant harm on the basis that there was evidence of such harm as the court should take into account in considering the child’s future.
Held: The finding was upheld. Booth J discussed the definition of ‘significant harm’: ‘Significant harm was defined by Miss Black, in accordance with dictionary definitions, first as being harm that the court should consider was either considerable or noteworthy or important. Then she expressed it as harm which the court should take into account in considering a child’s future. I think that is a very apt and helpful submission.’

Judges:

Booth J

Citations:

[1993] 1 FLR 257

Statutes:

Children Act 1989 31

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Re MA and Others (Children) CA 31-Jul-2009
Children appealed against dismissal of their care proceedings on the basis that the threshold had not been reached. The parents resisted.
Held: It could not be said that the decision so plainly wrong that the judge’s conclusion on the facts . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children

Updated: 07 May 2022; Ref: scu.371670

The mother of the child sought to change the child’s surname from that of the child’s father to that of her new husband.
Held: The application was refused. Dunn LJ referred to the importance of maintaining the child’s links with the paternal family as one of the factors to be considered by the judge in an application by a mother for change of a child’s patronymic.

Judges:

Dunn LJ

Citations:

[1981] Fam 14

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Approved – In re W G CA 1976
The mother sought to change the name of her child from that of the natural father to the surname of her new husband.
Held: Cairns LJ said: ‘it should be realised that the mere fact that there had been a divorce, that the mother had remarried . .
Approved – L v F 31-Jul-1978
The court heard an application with regard to a proposed change of a child’s surname. The child was living en famille with its mother, stepfather and half-sister. It heard evidence from a distinguished psychologist that ‘when they grew older, . .

Cited by:

Cited – Dawson v Wearmouth HL 4-Feb-1999
The parents were unmarried. The mother had registered the child under her former partner’s surname. The father sought an order that his name be used instead. The mother’s apeal against an order to that effect had succeeded.
Held: The father’s . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children

Updated: 07 May 2022; Ref: scu.270804

The mother appealed against a prohibited steps order preventing her taking the child of the family with her on her relocation to Northern Ireland.
Held: The making of an order either as a prohibited steps order or as a condition of a residence order, which placed restrictions on the right of the child’s primary carer to choose where to live must remain truly exceptional. In re E had not been cited to the judge. Had it been so cited, the order might not have been made.

Judges:

Thorpe LJ

Citations:

Times 10-Oct-2007

Statutes:

Children Act 1989 8 11(7)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – In re E (Minors) (Residence Orders: Imposition of Conditions) CA 30-Apr-1997
A residence order can not be accompanied by an order as to where a parent with care must live in the UK or with whom. An appeal may well arise in which a disappointed applicant will contend that section 13(1)(b) of the Children Act 1989 imposes a . .
Cited – In re H (Children: Residence order: Relocation) CA 30-Jul-2001
A court has the power under the Act to impose a condition on a residence order to prevent a proposed move within the UK. Such an order would be exceptional. In the absence of such a condition, there was nothing to require a parent with residence . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children

Updated: 07 May 2022; Ref: scu.263459

Judges:

Sumner J

Citations:

[2007] EWHC 64 (Fam)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 07 May 2022; Ref: scu.249184

Judges:

Lady Justice King

Citations:

[2014] EWCA Civ 1474

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 07 May 2022; Ref: scu.538875

Judges:

Lord Justice Thorpe

Citations:

[2010] EWCA Civ 705, : [2011] 1 FLR 183

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 07 May 2022; Ref: scu.427967

Citations:

(1994) 1 FLR 657

Cited by:

Cited – Morgan v Hill CA 28-Nov-2006
The father appealed an award of periodical payments to a former partner. She had a child by an earlier relationship. The father was immensely rich and during the relationship made financial provision for the child by the earlier relationship also. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children

Updated: 07 May 2022; Ref: scu.247675

Balcombe LJ said: ‘But before concluding this judgment, I would like to make three general points. The first is that judges should be very reluctant to allow the implacable hostility of one parent (usually the parent who has a residence order in his or her favour) to deter them from making a contact order where they believe the child’s welfare requires it.The danger of allowing the implacable hostility of the residential parent (usually the mother) to frustrate the court’s decision is too obvious to require repetition on my part.’

Judges:

Balcombe LJ

Citations:

[1994] 2 FLR 729

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – In Re O (A Minor) (Contact: Imposition of Conditions) CA 17-Mar-1995
The court may impose detailed conditions on the form of indirect contact. His Lordship set out the relevant principles: ‘1 Overriding all else, as provided by section 1(1) of the Children Act 1989, the welfare of the child was the paramount . .
Cited – In Re P (Minors) (Contact) CA 15-May-1996
The father appealed an order refusing him direct contact with the child. The judge had made the order because he considered that the mother’s hostility to contact made it likely that her health would suffer if contact was ordered, and that the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children

Updated: 07 May 2022; Ref: scu.241341

Cumming-Bruce LJ discussed the difficulty faced by an appeal court: ‘There was not really a right solution: there were two alternative wrong solutions. The problem for the judge was to appreciate the factors pointing in each direction and to decide which of the two was the least dangerous havng regard to the long term interests of the children, and so he decided the matter.
Whether I would have decided it in the same way if I had been in the position of the trial judge I do not know. I might have taken the same course as the judge and I might not, but I was never in that situation. I am sitting in the Court of Appeal deciding a quite different question: has it been shown that the judge to whom Parliament has confided the exercise of dicretion, plainly got the wrong answer? I emphasise the word ‘plainly’. In spite of the efforts of [counsel] the answer to that question clearly must be that the judge has not been shown plainly to have got it wrong.’

Judges:

Cumming-Bruce LJ

Citations:

[1982] 4 FLR 482

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Bellenden (formerly Satterthwaite) v Satterthwaite CA 1948
The court considered the role of the appeal court in assessing an order for maintenance payable for a divorced wife. The judge’s decision had been made by an exercise of his discretion.
Held: Asquith LJ said: ‘It is, of course, not enough for . .

Cited by:

Cited – In Re P (Minors) (Contact) CA 15-May-1996
The father appealed an order refusing him direct contact with the child. The judge had made the order because he considered that the mother’s hostility to contact made it likely that her health would suffer if contact was ordered, and that the . .
Cited – Re W (Children), GW (The Father) Litigant in Person CA 26-Jul-2007
The father sought to appeal an order with respect to contact with his children, alleging ‘that the reasons he is not having contact with his children are a combination of maternal deceit, the deliberate alienation of the children from him by their . .
Approved – G v G (Minors: Custody Appeal) HL 25-Apr-1985
The House asked when a decision, on the facts, of a first instance court is so wrong as to allow it to be overturned on appeal.
Held: The epithet ‘wrong’ is to be applied to the substance of the decision made by the lower court. ‘Certainly it . .
Cited – AM v Local Authority and Another; Re B-M (Care Orders) CA 16-Mar-2009
The father sought leave to appeal against care orders made in respect of his three children. The family were Pakistani Pathan muslims. There had been disputes and violence within the extended family. One family member sought protection but was now . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children

Updated: 07 May 2022; Ref: scu.241338

(Date) The mother appealed against an order of andpound;800,000 to provide her with a home in which to bring up the child of the wealthy ummarried couple.
Held: The judge had erred in scaling down pro rata an award made in another large money case. The court noted that in such cases it would avoid difficulties for the child to have separate representation.

Judges:

Thorpe LJ

Citations:

Times 17-Apr-2006

Statutes:

Children Act 1989 15

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – In re P (Child: Financial Provision) CA 24-Jun-2003
The court considered the amount of an allowance to be provided to a parent which would, on divorce, take care of a child of the family in a moderate to high income case.
Held: The carer would not themselves be entitled to an allowance . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children

Updated: 07 May 2022; Ref: scu.240428

The one month old baby had been taken into the care of the local authority. The authority appealed the extent of contact with the baby.
Held: The appeal failed. It was not wholly improper to allow for the practicalities of arranging such contact, including the financial resources available to meet them. The order was to run only for a few weeks before review, and was not outside the range of proper orders.

Judges:

Bodey J

Citations:

Times 22-Sep-2005

Statutes:

Children Act 1989 34

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Explained – In re M (Care Proceedings: Judicial Review); In the matter of unborn baby M R; X and Y, Regina (on the Application of) v Gloucestershire County Council Admn 15-Apr-2003
Munby J said: ‘If a baby is to be removed from its mother, one would normally expect arrangements to be made by the local authority to facilitate contact on a regular basis . . Those arrangements must be driven by the needs of the family, not . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children

Updated: 07 May 2022; Ref: scu.231658

The judge had found that the threshold criteria in section 31 had been met, but the authority changed the care plan immediately before the final hearing. The guardian now appealed a final order, having proposed an interim order.
Held: Once the care order had been made, the court had no continuing direct role. The order should be made only when all the information was before it, but an interim order made instead of a final order could be justified only in exceptional circumstances, and the court should be wary of using the power to make interim orders to revive any control over the conduct of the care of the child. A court has a duty ‘carefully to scrutinise the care plan prepared by the local authority and to satisfy itself that the care plan is in the child’s interests.’ and ‘there are cases (of which this is one) in which the action which requires to be taken in the interests of children necessarily involves steps into the unknown provided the court is satisfied that the local authority is alert to the difficulties which may arise in the execution of the care plan, the function of the court is not to seek to oversee the plan but to entrust its execution to the local authority.’

Judges:

Wall J

Citations:

[1994] 1 FLR 253

Statutes:

Family Law Reform Act 1969 72, Children Act 1989 1 31 38

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Approved – Re CH (Care or Interim Care Order) 1998
CH suffered injury, and a care order was sought, with rehabilitation a possibility. The guardian wanted adoption. In the absence of a paediatric psychiatric report, the judge approved the care plan and gave directions that a child psychiatrist . .
Cited – Plymouth City Council v HM Coroner for the County of Devon and Another Admn 27-May-2005
The local authority in whose care the deceased child had been held challenged a decision by the coroner not to limit his inquiry to the last few days of the child’s life. The coroner had decided that he had an obligation to conduct a wider enquiry . .
Cited – Cheshire County Council and others v DS (Father) and others CA 15-Mar-2007
The court granted an appeal in care proceedings, but examined the relationship between the court and local authorities. There had been a late change in the proposed care plan and an application by grandparents to be made party. Some in the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children

Updated: 07 May 2022; Ref: scu.228026

The mother of a child had persistently refused to comply with an order to give contact with her child to the father. She had been committed for contempt, and appealed.
Held: The circumstances left the court with no other choice than to impose the suspended committal order. The order gave the mother another opportunity to demonstrate her intention to comply with the order.

Judges:

Thorpe, Arden, Neuberger LJJ

Citations:

Times 09-Dec-2004

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children, Contempt of Court

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.221440

The child’s mother sought financial assistance to travel to Sudan to visit her child who was being unlawfully restrained there by the father, and to seek his return.
Held: The 1989 Act gave the court power to make an order for the benefit of the child. That provision was to be read widely, and the court had power to make such provision, and it was ordered.

Judges:

Thorpe LJ, Wall LJ, Black J

Citations:

Times 15-Nov-2004

Statutes:

Children Act 1989 Sch1 p14

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.219517

The court considered what would constitute a child being ‘settled’ under the 1985 Act: ‘I now turn to the last matter, which is art. 12, as to whether in these circumstances it has been demonstrated that Katharine in now settled in her new environment. Mr Karsten submitted that the President made no finding on this matter. I have read the relevant passages from his judgment. It is perfectly clear that he considered art. 12 at some length, and that he considered the submissions of counsel and, as I have said, before he started the hearing had been fully acquainted with the documents and the history. The countervailing submissions as to whether Katharine could really be said to be settled in this environment, looking at the historical record of the mother and the numerous movements and schools and so on, must be a matter of considerable debate. For my part, I would not disturb the approach that the President has made on this aspect of the case. He made a specific finding on the matter. The purpose of art. 12 is to give relief where the period which has passed between the wrongful removal and the application is more than one year. If in those circumstances it is demonstrated that the child is settled, there is no longer an obligation to return the child forthwith but, subject to the overall discretion of art. 18, the court may or may not order such a return. Bearing in mind the many moves to which our attention is drawn by Miss Scotland, for my part, I would not consider that it had been demonstrated that Katharine was settled in the new environment. There was from April 1989, and certainly August 1989, a dispute going on with which she must have been concerned about her future and where she was to live. She had established, it is obvious, a relationship with her half-sister, who had come through many of the other vicissitudes with her. But to say that within art. 12 it is demonstrated that there was a long-term settled position in the environment in England is, in my view, a difficult question upon which to be satisfied. Sir Stephen Brown P was not satisfied. I, for my part, would not disturb his decision on that matter. In any event, in all the circumstances of the case, Sir Stephen Brown P exercised his discretion within art. 18, and observed the underlying comity of this Convention in supporting, rather than interfering with, a foreign court properly seized with the management and control of the welfare of Katharine who had been under its jurisdiction as a result of divorce proceedings which took place in that court.’

Judges:

Lady Justice Butler-Sloss, Citations: [1991] 2 FLR 1

Cited – Re N (Minors) (Abduction) FD 2-Jan-1991
The court considered the degree of settlement that had to be proved under the Act: ‘The second question which has arisen is: what is the degree of settlement which has to be demonstrated? There is some force, I find, in the argument that legal . .
Cited – Re M (Abduction: Acquiescence) FD 1996
After referring to the decisions in Re S and in Re N on the issue of whether a child had a settled residence: ‘It seems to me that any survey of the degree of settlement of the child must give weight to emotional and psychological settlement, as . .
Cited – Re L (Abduction: Pending Criminal Proceedings) FD 1999
In a child abduction case, the court considered whether a child was settled within the UK if his whereabouts had been hidden: ‘The mother might or might not have demonstrated that the children were now settled in their new environment. The . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.219118

The 11 year old child had been subject to non-accidental injury. The perpetrator could not be identified form among those who had care of him. The Family Court had held the first part of a split trial. The judge had been unable to exclude the immediate family and carers from the pool of possible perpetratrors.
Held: Where there was not sufficient evidence to make a finding as to the perpetrator the test was that of a real possibility that one or more individuals with access might have caused the injury. The test of ‘no possibility’ was too wide. Here the night nanny and maternal grandmother were clear of any such real possibility. The case showed the difficulty often of having split trials.

Citations:

Times 22-Aug-2003, Gazette 18-Sep-2003

Statutes:

Children Act 1989 31

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Re B (Non-accidental injury: compelling medical evidence) CA 2002
A child had died. Care proceedings were begun for the elder child. It was not clear just who had been responsible for the death.
Held: There were two questions. First, who perpetrated the injuries recorded by the experts? The answer to that . .
Cited – In re O and N (Minors); In re B (Minors) (Care: Preliminary hearing) HL 3-Apr-2003
The appeals were from conflicting decisions in care applications where one or other or both parents were guilty of lack of care, but there was no evidence to say which was responsible.
Held: The threshold criteria had been met, and the court . .
Cited – In re H and R (Minors) (Child Sexual Abuse: Standard of Proof) HL 14-Dec-1995
Evidence allowed – Care Application after Abuse
Children had made allegations of serious sexual abuse against their step-father. He was acquitted at trial, but the local authority went ahead with care proceedings. The parents appealed against a finding that a likely risk to the children had still . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.186054

Application by A Local Authority for a care order pursuant to section 31 of the Children Act 1989 in respect of Z, who is now six and a half years old.

Judges:

Mrs Justice Roberts

Citations:

[2020] EWFC 36

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.656378

Citations:

[2018] EWCA Civ 2707

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.631170

Local Authority’s appeal from refusal of care order

Judges:

Black LJ

Citations:

[2014] EWCA Civ 226

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.522277

Russell LJ said: ‘But it must be borne in mind that the infant is a ward of court under the judge’s order, and if anyone is minded to question or interview the infant they may well be at risk of being in contempt.’

Judges:

Russell, Cross LJJ

Citations:

[1970] Ch 688

Cited by:

Doubted – Kelly (A Minor) v British Broadcasting Corporation FD 25-Jul-2000
K, aged 16, had left home to join what was said to be a religious sect. His whereabouts were unknown. He had been made a ward of court and the Official Solicitor was appointed to represent his interests. He had sent messages to say that he was well . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.445477

The court considered the possibility of making a joint residence order. Purchas LJ said: ‘That such an order is open to the court, as has been said in the judgment of Cazalet J, is clear from the provisions of section 11(4) of the Children Act 1989, as was indicated during the debate on the Bill by the Lord Chancellor. But, at the same time, it must be an order which would rarely be made and would depend upon exceptional circumstances’.

Judges:

Purchas LJ

Citations:

[1994] 1 FLR 717

Statutes:

Children Act 1989 11(4)

Citing:

Cited – Riley v Riley 1986
. .

Cited by:

Cited – In re AR (A Child: Relocation) FD 10-Jun-2010
Both parents had parental responsibility. The French mother wished to return to live in France and to take the five year old child with her, applying to court for the appropriate order.
Held: The court pointed to the real difficulties always . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.417783

Application for Care Order.

Judges:

Owens HHJ

Citations:

[2014] EWFC B165

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.540397

The court had under its inherent jurisdiction ordered the mother to return the seven year old child A to the father in Russia.
Held: Even though the hearing did not take place under the Hague Convention or Brussels II, the court had an obligation to consider arrangements itself to hear the child. M’s appeal succeeded.

Judges:

Tomlinson, Ryder, King LJJ

Citations:

[2014] EWCA Civ 1557, [2014] WLR(D) 522, [2015] 1 FCR 223, [2015] Fam 263, [2015] Fam Law 118, [2015] 2 FLR 588, [2015] 3 WLR 10

Links:

Bailii, WLRD

Statutes:

Hague Convention on the International Aspects of Child Abduction 1980, Brussels II revised

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – In re NY (A Child) (Reunite International and others intervening) SC 30-Oct-2019
The father had applied for a summary order requiring the return of the daughter to Israel. The Court was asked to consider whether the Court of Appeal, having determined that such an order could not be granted under the Hague Convention on the Civil . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children

Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.539586

Judges:

Sir Mark Potter P

Citations:

[2009] EWHC 638 (Fam), [2010] 1 WLR 1237

Statutes:

Child Abduction and Custody Act 1985

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Appeal from – In re P-J (Children) (Abduction: Consent) CA 23-Jun-2009
An application was made under the 1985 Act. The mother answered by saying that the removal of the child had been approved by the father.
Held: The mother’s appeal failed. The father had clearly indicated that he withdrew his consent before the . .
Cited – A v A and another (Children) (Children: Habitual Residence) (Reunite International Child Abduction Centre intervening) SC 9-Sep-2013
Acquisition of Habitual Residence
Habitual residence can in principle be lost and another habitual residence acquired on the same day.
Held: The provisions giving the courts of a member state jurisdiction also apply where there is an alternative jurisdiction in a non-member . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children

Updated: 05 May 2022; Ref: scu.377810

The mother sought to change the name of her child from that of the natural father to the surname of her new husband.
Held: Cairns LJ said: ‘it should be realised that the mere fact that there had been a divorce, that the mother had remarried and had custody of the child, and had a name different from that of the child, was not a sufficient reason for changing the child’s surname. The courts recognised the importance of maintaining a link with the father, unless he had ceased to have an interest in the child or there were some grounds–having regard to his character and behaviour–which made it undesirable for him to have access to the child at all.’

Judges:

Cairns LJ

Citations:

(1976) 6 Fam Law 210

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Approved – W v A (Minor: Surname) CA 1981
The mother of the child sought to change the child’s surname from that of the child’s father to that of her new husband.
Held: The application was refused. Dunn LJ referred to the importance of maintaining the child’s links with the paternal . .
Cited – Dawson v Wearmouth HL 4-Feb-1999
The parents were unmarried. The mother had registered the child under her former partner’s surname. The father sought an order that his name be used instead. The mother’s apeal against an order to that effect had succeeded.
Held: The father’s . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children

Updated: 05 May 2022; Ref: scu.270802