Category: Children

In re S (A Child): FD 25 Mar 2013

The mother in England with S and the father in Spain disputed arrangements for his residence. They now disagreed whether a court order made by consent in Spain having been completed, Spain continued to have jurisdiction.

Judges:

Cob J

Citations:

[2013] EWHC 647 (Fam)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Jurisdiction, Children

Updated: 14 November 2022; Ref: scu.472084

ES, Regina (on The Application of) v London Borough of Barking and Dagenham: Admn 27 Mar 2013

The claimant sought judicial review of the Defendant’s failure to assess her son’s needs for the purposes of providing accommodation and support under section 17 of the 1989 Act. While the case is specific to its particular facts, it raises the question of the extent to which the Defendant could rely upon the Secretary of State’s power to provide facilities for accommodation under section 4 of the 999 Act in deciding whether or not to carry out an assessment of need.

Judges:

Robin Purchas QC

Citations:

[2013] EWHC 691 (Admin)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Children Act 1989 17, Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 4

Local Government, Children, Immigration

Updated: 14 November 2022; Ref: scu.472074

Somerset County Council v DFM (the Father) and Another; In re F: CA 31 Jul 2007

Judges:

Wall LJ, Blackburne J

Citations:

[2007] EWCA Civ 810

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – In re R (Family dispute: Evidence) CA 17-Jul-2008
The mother had made allegations of domestic violence against the father in her claim for a residence order. She appealed dismissal of the claim, saying that the judge had dismissed the case after hearing the mother’s evidence only on the basis that . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children, Local Government

Updated: 14 November 2022; Ref: scu.258477

In re X and Y: FDNI 17 Aug 2005

Citations:

[2005] NIFam 8

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

Northern Ireland

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: 14 November 2022; Ref: scu.230786

MA and Others v Secretary of State For The Home Department: ECJ 21 Feb 2013

ECJ Regulation (EC) No 343/2003 (Dublin II) – Determining the Member State responsible for examining asylum applications lodged by unaccompanied minors who are third-country nationals – Several applications – Best interests of the minor

Judges:

Cruz Villalon AG

Citations:

C-648/11, [2013] EUECJ C-648/11

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Regulation (EC) No 343/2003

European, Immigration, Children

Updated: 14 November 2022; Ref: scu.471214

C-H (a Minor) (care or interim order): CA 1998

Thorpe LJ said: ‘The interdisciplinary character of the family justice system emphasises the co-operation that should exist between the court and public authority. It is, from my perception, inconceivable that there should not be reciprocal respect between the court and public authority for their differing functions and differing views. Manifestly, the statutory responsibility post-care order remains solely with the local authority. It is equally manifest that the local authority will pay due regard to the function of the judge in giving judgment on the care plan after careful appraisal. Manifestly, the local authority will have greater regard for a judgment that is considered and that has embraced all the relevant circumstances and all the necessary expert opinion. I have no doubt that no public authority would wish the judicial appraisal to be preceded by anything less.’

Judges:

Thorpe LJ

Citations:

[1998] 2 FCR 347

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

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: 13 November 2022; Ref: scu.250047

In re A (Application for leave): CA 1998

An application for leave to apply under the Act by a person subject to an order under section 91 should be made inter partes.

Judges:

Thorpe LJ

Citations:

[1998] 1 FLR 1

Statutes:

Children Act 1989 91(14)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – In re S (Permission to seek relief); In re E (Permission to seek relief) CA 18-Aug-2006
Each father appealed orders under the section restricting conditionally their right to make applications under the Act without permission.
Held: S91 orders must state their term, and the nature of the application to which it related, but must . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children

Updated: 13 November 2022; Ref: scu.245025

Re Evelyn: CA 1998

Citations:

[1998] Fam 55

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Approved – Hodak v Newman and Hodak 1993
(Family Court of Australia) Lindenburgh J said: ‘I am of the opinion that the fact of parenthood is to be regarded as an important and significant factor in considering which proposals better advance the welfare of the child. Such fact does not, . .

Cited by:

Cited – In Re G (A Minor) (Interim Care Order: Residential Assessment); G (Children), In Re (Residence: Same Sex Partner) HL 26-Jul-2006
The parties had been a lesbian couple each with children. Each now was in a new relationship. One registered the two daughters of the other at a school now local to her but without first consulting the birth mother, who then applied for residence . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children

Updated: 13 November 2022; Ref: scu.244489

In re R (Care Proceedings: Adjournment): CA 1998

The mother had two children but the father had left. Referrals were made over a long period with regard to her drug abuse and violence. She then had a child by a sixteen year old boy. The two older children were placed with their father under interim orders, and the youngest was fostered. The judge then made final orders for the two older children in favour of the father. The authority propsed adotion for the baby. The mother was to retain limited contact with all three. The judge made only an interim order for the baby because of the possibility of the mother improving. The authority and guardian appealed.
Held: The appeal succeeded, and a final order made. There was no realistic alternative to care orders. The three month adjournment could achieve little when the expert reports anticipated that two years would be required. Two years in care would be too long. Contact was for the local authority to sort out.

Citations:

[1998] 2 FLR 390

Statutes:

Children Act 1989 38

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 13 November 2022; Ref: scu.228027

Re J (Care Rehabilitation Plan): CA 1998

The mother suffered a long term obsessional disorder, and whilst hospitalised, bore a child, who then spent much time in care. The mother planned to marry a man with a history of child sexual abuse. The authority applied for care with a view to adoption. The experts could not predict her recovery within two years. The judge adjourned the application under section 38. The authority appealed.
Held: The appeal succeeded in part. The interim order in effect sought to promote delay while the mother might improve, but it had not been decided that rehabilitation was correct. The judge had correctly identified the need to establish the viability of any rehabilitation programme.

Citations:

[1998] 2 FLR 498

Statutes:

Children Act 1989 38

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 13 November 2022; Ref: scu.228028

Re JA (Child Abduction: Non-Convention Country): CA 1998

The court accepted a submission that ‘the court cannot be satisfied that it is in the best interests of the child to return it to the court of habitual residence in order that that court may resolve the disputed question unless this court is satisfied that the welfare test will apply in that foreign court’. However, foreign law is presumed to be the same as English law, and it is for the party resisting return to show that there is a difference which may be detrimental to the child’s welfare. In the case before him, it was the lack of any process whereby the mother might gain the right to return to this country with the child, with the result that she and the child might be ‘locked in’ to a life there, which would put at risk the mother’s health and the child’s care.

Judges:

Ward LJ, Lord Woolf MR and Lord Justice Mummery

Citations:

[1998] 1 FLR 231

Statutes:

Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Approved – Re L (Minors) (Wardship: Jurisdiction) CA 1974
The court summarised the principles as to the return of a child to a foreign country without conducting a full investigation of the merits: ‘To take a child from his native land, to remove him to another country where, maybe, his native tongue is . .

Cited by:

Cited – Re J (A Child), Re (Child returned abroad: Convention Rights); (Custody Rights: Jurisdiction) HL 16-Jun-2005
The parents had married under shariah law. They left the US to return to the father’s home country Saudi Arabia. They parted, and the mother brought their son to England against the father’s wishes and in breach of an agreement. The father sought . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children

Updated: 13 November 2022; Ref: scu.228366

C (Minors): CA 19 Dec 1997

A court had made an order freeing three siblings for adoption together. The parents accepted that this was inevitable for the two older but not for the third, who was a few months old. An emergency protection order had been obtained on the birth of the last child. The mother suffered depression which was likely to require long term treatment. No order had been made for a further period of assessment.
Held: The need for a decision was pressing. There was some need, and the appeal court could not say the decision at first instance was plainly wrong. Appeal dismissed.

Judges:

Lady Justice Butler-Sloss, Lord Justice Henry

Citations:

[1997] EWCA Civ 3056

Statutes:

Children Act 1989 31

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children, Adoption

Updated: 13 November 2022; Ref: scu.143455

Re: E (Minors): CA 19 Dec 1997

The appellant sought leave to appeal an order regarding access to her children in care. A residential therapeutic assessment had been refused. She sought transfer of the case to the High Court.
Held: The application must be refused. The judge considering the matter was experienced and had given it full consideration. The delay involved in a transfer would not be in the children’s interests.

Judges:

Lord Justice Morritt, Lord Justice Thorpe

Citations:

[1997] EWCA Civ 3074

Statutes:

Children Act 1989, Children (Allocation of Proceedings) Order 1991, Practice Direction, Family Division, Distribution of Business

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 13 November 2022; Ref: scu.143473

Re: J (a Minor): CA 19 Dec 1997

There had been protracted proceedings for contact with a child. The parents were unmarried. A report recommended different counselling for both parents, but the mother did not co-operate. During supervised contact, the father had taken the child away temporarily, and he sought leave to appeal an order refusing further interim contact.
Held: There was evidence of an affectionate relationship between the father and child. Nevertheless the order could not be criticised. That had no implication for the full hearing which was yet to take place. Leave to appeal was refused.

Judges:

Lord Justice Morritt, Lord Justice Thorpe

Citations:

[1997] EWCA Civ 3075

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 13 November 2022; Ref: scu.143474

A (A Minor) (No 2): CA 18 Dec 1997

On an application for leave to appeal in a matter of contact, the judge should not make any order to extend the current contact arrangement. There is no automatic right of appeal to the Court of Appeal on contact matters. The judge’s decision was well within the ambit of his discretion, and a court of appeal would not be able to disturb it.

Citations:

[1997] EWCA Civ 3034

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 13 November 2022; Ref: scu.143433

In Re C (Minors) (Change of Surname): CA 8 Dec 1997

Child’s surname changed wrongly by father, though not to be changed back after mother had remarried taking new name herself. The fact that mother and child bear the same name should not necessarily be sufficient reason for refusing a change if there are valid countervailing reasons.

Citations:

Times 08-Dec-1997, Gazette 17-Dec-1997, [1998] 2 FLR 656

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 13 November 2022; Ref: scu.81796

In Re C (A Minor) (Change of Name): CA 2 Feb 1998

A parent challenging a child’s lawful change of name after the event must do so against the background at time of name change; cogent reasons were needed.

Citations:

Times 02-Feb-1998

Statutes:

Children Act 1989

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – In Re T (A Minor)(Change of Surname) FD 8-Jul-1998
A child’s surname should be changed only with the consent of the father even though parties were unmarried, but particularly where the father has a parental responsibility order. Change back ordered even after several years. . .
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: 13 November 2022; Ref: scu.81782

The Children’s Rights Alliance for England, Regina (on The Application of) v The Secretary of State for Justice: CA 6 Feb 2013

Appeal, with permission against a judgment dismissing the appellant’s application for judicial review seeking an order that the defendant Secretary of State provide or facilitate the provision of information to stated categories of children as to the illegal use of restraint techniques on them when they were detained in Secure Training Centres (STCs) in the United Kingdom.

Judges:

Laws, Sullivan, Black LJJ

Citations:

[2013] EWCA Civ 34, [2013] WLR(D) 57, [2013] HRLR 17, [2013] 1 WLR 3667

Links:

Bailii, WLRD

Statutes:

Prison Act 1952 43(1)(d)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Prisons, Children

Updated: 13 November 2022; Ref: scu.470828

In re J (Children): CA 7 Nov 2012

The father sought the return to Spain of the family’s four children, the judge had ordered their return, but the mother absconded with them to Wales. They were found and two returned, but after a scene at the airport tow stayed. The mother now appealed against the order for all four children to return to Spain.
Held: The appeal faced an insuperable difficulty namely that none of the facts said to constitute grounds were fresh evidence. The order had been made in a correct fashion and had been within the court’s discretion on the facts presented. Furthermore there had been proceedings in Spain where both parties were present where findings had been made as to welfare issues, and ‘The whole purpose of the Hague application is to achieve the summary return of children wrongfully removed or retained in order to enable the court of the children’s habitual residence to take any welfare decisions arising out of parental conflict. That has now been achieved in Spain. Accordingly it seems to me that the role of this court is much diminished. ‘

Judges:

Thorpe, Elias, Black LJJ

Citations:

[2012] EWCA Civ 1511

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Child Abduction and Custody Act 1985

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children, International

Updated: 13 November 2022; Ref: scu.470116

In re C (A Child): CA 3 Jul 2007

Mother refusing to allow father contact with child – her appeal against order changing residence to be with father.
Held: The court had evidence of the mother’s intractable opposition to contact with the father, and was entitld to conclude that this was not in the child’s interests. The order could not be shown to be wrong, and the appeal was dismissed.

Citations:

[2007] EWCA Civ 866, [2008] 1 FLR 211

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 12 November 2022; Ref: scu.259128

An Hospital NHS Trust v S (By her Litigation Friend the Official Solicitor) And DG (S’s Father) and SG (S’s Mother): FD 6 Mar 2003

The hospital sought a declaration that it had no obligation to provide a kidney transplant to an eighteen year old youth who had had very severe disabilities since birth. It was argued that his mental condition meant that he would be unable to cope with the stress and changes involved in the operation.
Held: ‘When considering the best interests of a patient, it is, as is set out in Thorpe LJ’s judgment above, the duty of the court to assess the advantages and disadvantages of the various treatments and management options, the viability of each such option and the likely effect each would have on the patient’s best interests and . . . his enjoyment of life.’ The present treatment should continue with further treatments decided upon as necessary, with nothing excluded.

Judges:

The President

Citations:

[2003] EWHC 365 (Fam)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – In Re B (A Minor) (Wardship: Medical Treatment) CA 1981
The child was born with Down’s Syndrome and an intestinal blockage. She needed the obstruction to be relieved if she was to survive. If the operation were performed, the child might die within a few months but it was probable that her life . .
Cited – In re F (Mental Patient: Sterilisation) HL 4-May-1989
Where a patient lacks capacity, there is the power to provide him with whatever treatment or care is necessary in his own best interests. Medical treatment can be undertaken in an emergency even if, through a lack of capacity, no consent had been . .
Cited – Airedale NHS Trust v Bland HL 4-Feb-1993
Procedures on Withdrawal of Life Support Treatment
The patient had been severely injured in the Hillsborough disaster, and had come to be in a persistent vegetative state (PVS). The doctors sought permission to withdraw medical treatment. The Official Solicitor appealed against an order of the Court . .
Cited – Simms, PA v Simms (Acting By the Official Solicitor As Litigation Friend), an NHS Trust (Acting By the Official Solicitor As Guardian Ad Litem), an NHS Trust FD 11-Dec-2002
‘In a situation where there is no application to the court, and the patient does not have capacity to make a decision about medical or surgical treatment, the doctor has, in my judgment, two duties. First he must act at all times in accordance with . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Health, Children

Updated: 12 November 2022; Ref: scu.179547

Re F and H (Children): CA 24 Aug 2007

The father sought leave to appeal a care order and an order releasing his child for adoption.
Held: The court applied Re W as to the extent of the duty of the appellate court in such matters. The appeal would stand no reasonable prospect of success. Leave was refused.

Judges:

Wall LJ

Citations:

[2007] EWCA Civ 880

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Adoption and Children Act 2002, Children Act 1989

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

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 . .

Cited by:

Cited – In re F (A Child) (Placement Order); C v East Sussex County Council (Adoption) CA 1-May-2008
The father sought to revoke a freeing order. He said that the social workers had conspired to exclude him from the process. The child was born of a casual relationship, and at first he was unaware of the proceedings. On learning of them he sought to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children, Adoption

Updated: 12 November 2022; Ref: scu.259133

Scholes, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: Admn 16 Jan 2006

The deceased had committed suicide whilst in a Young Offenders Institute. The coroner had called for a further enquiry into the way he had been sentenced. The Home Office refused a public enquiry saying that the coroner’s inquest had satisfied its human rights duties. Judicial review was now sought of that decision.
Held: The respondent argued that the claimant knew the extent of the coroner’s proposed enquiry, and had opportuniy to challenge it. The Inquest had heard evidence from the prisons service as to its policies and the estate available. The court contrasted the resources available in the limited number of secure hostels with those in young offenders institutions.

Citations:

[2006] EWHC 1 (Admin)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

European Convention on Human Rights 2

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v l Lobban Sawyers and Others, Regina v Q; Attorney General’s Reference Nos 4 and 7 Of 2002 CACD 29-Jan-2002
The appeals concerned sentences for robbery of mobile phones in public places.
Held: Such thefts had become commonplace. The court would not set out to provide sentencing guidelines, but rather to bring together existing guidance. The courts . .
Cited – Amin, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department HL 16-Oct-2003
Prisoner’s death – need for full public enquiry
The deceased had been a young Asian prisoner. He was placed in a cell overnight with a prisoner known to be racist, extremely violent and mentally unstable. He was killed. The family sought an inquiry into the death.
Held: There had been a . .
Cited – Middleton, Regina (on the Application of) v Coroner for the Western District of Somerset HL 11-Mar-2004
The deceased had committed suicide in prison. His family felt that the risk should have been known to the prison authorities, and that they had failed to guard against that risk. The coroner had requested an explanatory note from the jury.
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 by:

Appeal from – Scholes v Secretary of State for the Home Department CA 17-Oct-2006
The deceased had committed suicide whilst in prison. The judge had requested that prison should be told of the risk of self harm. The mother appealed refusal of the judge to grant a judicial review of the Home Secretary’s refusal to grant, as . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Prisons, Children, Human Rights, Coroners

Updated: 12 November 2022; Ref: scu.242192

F, Re (Assessment of Birth Family): FC 12 Apr 2021

‘Within these public law proceedings, is there any obligation on the Local Authority to assess members of the ‘original family’ (ie, the biological/birth family) of the mother of the subject infant child (F), where the mother herself was adopted as a child and raised by adoptive parents?’

Judges:

The Honourable Mr Justice Cobb

Citations:

[2021] EWFC 31

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children, Local Government

Updated: 12 November 2022; Ref: scu.661720

In re X and Y (Parental Order: Retrospective Authorisation of Payments): FD 6 Dec 2011

An application had been made for parental orders under section 57. The children X and Y had been born in India under surrogacy arrangements involving payments which were lawful in India, but which went beyond what could be paid.
Held: The orders were granted. ‘Mr and Ms A are entirely genuine, the terms of the section are met, the payments are not in my judgment disproportionate, and it is plainly in the interests of these two children that they should be brought up by Mr and Mrs A as their parents. ‘

Judges:

Sir Nicholas Wall P

Citations:

[2011] EWHC 3147 (Fam)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 54

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Approved – In re X and Y (Foreign Surrogacy) FD 9-Dec-2008
The court considered the approval required for an order under the 2002 Act.
Held: Welfare considerations were important but not paramount: ‘Given the permanent nature of the order under s.30, it seems reasonable that the court should adopt the . .

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 . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children

Updated: 10 November 2022; Ref: scu.449964

In re X, Y, Z (Minors): FD 18 May 2011

Costs on disputed care proceedings. Local Authority acting unreasonably in disclosure failings. Baker J rejected an application for costs against a local authority by an intervener who had been wholly exonerated in a fact finding hearing that was the first part of a split hearing. He did so on the ground that the impetus for making the allegations against the intervener had been that of the court not the local authority.

Judges:

Baker J

Citations:

[2011] EWHC 1267 (Fam)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – In re T (Children) SC 25-Jul-2012
The local authority had commenced care proceedings, alleging abuse. After lengthy proceedings, of seven men and two grandparents, all but one were exonerated. The grandparents had not been entitled to legal aid, and had had to mortgage their house . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Costs, Children

Updated: 10 November 2022; Ref: scu.439829

In re X Children: FD 29 Jun 2007

Munby J made clear, in the context of reiterating the principle that whilst it was a strong thing to omit or qualify the public domain proviso, that the Court can, where there is a pressing need, construct a reporting restriction order so as to prevent the further reporting of aspects of the criminal proceedings which have already been reported.

Judges:

Munby J

Citations:

[2007] EWHC 1719 (Fam), [2008] 1 FLR 589, [2008] Fam Law 23

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – H v A (No2) FD 17-Sep-2015
The court had previously published and then withdrawn its judgment after third parties had been able to identify those involved by pulling together media and internet reports with the judgment.
Held: The judgment case should be published in . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children, Media

Updated: 10 November 2022; Ref: scu.260010

In re X: NIHCM 23 Dec 2005

Citations:

[2005] NIMaster 36

Links:

Bailii

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: 10 November 2022; Ref: scu.344007

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 authority, and the guardian, wanted a stranger adoption, but the authority and the family proposed care with family members. The judge had not made an order he did not feel was in the child’s best interests, but called on the authority to reconsider its proposal.
Held: The authority’s appeal failed. The court could not get around the fact that ‘whatever course of action this court took, the local authority had expressed itself as determined to maintain its changed plans to place all three children within the family. ‘ The matter should be re-heard in the family division by a judge also authorised to sit in the Administrative Court. This would allow the court to make further orders as required. Responsibility for making care orders is on the court, not the local authority which brings the proceedings. A local authority must prepare a care plan and keep that care plan under review and revise it when necessary. Once the court has made a final care order, responsibility passes to the local authority and neither the court nor the children’s guardian has any further role in the children’s lives. However ‘not only does the court have the duty rigorously to scrutinise the care plan and to refuse to make a care order if it does not think the plan in the child’s best interests; the court also has the right to invite the local authority to reconsider the care plan if the court comes to the conclusion that the plan – or any change in the plan – involves a course of action which the court believes is contrary to the interests of the child, and which would be likely to lead the court to refuse to make a care order if the local authority were to adhere to the care plan it has proposed. ‘
Care proceedings are only quasi-adversarial. There is a powerful inquisitorial element. They are proceedings in which the court and the local authority should both strive to achieve an order which is in the best interests of the child. There needs to be mutual respect and understanding for the different role and perspective which each has in the process. The shared objective should be to achieve a result which is in the best interests of the child.
The court was seriously disappointed at the failure of the authority to explain its actions. It had failed to reconsider its position as ordered: ‘the only reason we are interfering with the judge’s perfectly proper order is because of the unprincipled conduct of the local authority. ‘
Whilst care proceedings are pending, any ECHR issue should be dealt with in the care proceedings, not in separate proceedings under the Human Rights Act. This applies also for judicial review. It is misconceived for a guardian or parent to seek judicially to review a care plan in proceedings separate from the pending care proceedings themselves. Any consideration of the care plan and its appropriateness can and should normally be dealt with within the care proceedings.

Judges:

Thorpe LJ, Wall LJ, Hooper LJ

Citations:

Times 30-Mar-2007, [2007] EWCA Civ 232

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Children Act 1989

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Re S and D (Child Care Powers of the Court ) CA 1995
The court considered the powers of the court in care proceedings where it did not approve the authority’s proposed care plan. The judge had made supervision orders in relation to both children coupled with an injunction restraining the mother from . .
Cited – C v Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council FD 1993
The court allowed a limited period of ‘planned and purposeful delay’ before making a care order. Ward J: ‘We have heard much, as we have prepared for the implementation of the Children Act 1989, about partnership. One of those partnerships is the . .
Cited – C-H (a Minor) (care or interim order) CA 1998
Thorpe LJ said: ‘The interdisciplinary character of the family justice system emphasises the co-operation that should exist between the court and public authority. It is, from my perception, inconceivable that there should not be reciprocal respect . .
Cited – Re S (Children: Care Plan); In re W and B (Children: Care plan) In re W (Child: Care plan) HL 14-Mar-2002
The Court of Appeal had imposed conditions upon the care plan to be implemented by the local authorities, identifying certain ‘starred’ essential milestones. The local authorities appealed.
Held: This was not a legitimate extension of the . .
Cited – In Re J (Minors) (Care: Care Plan) FD 1994
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 . .
Cited – In re V (a Child) (Care proceedings: Human Rights Claims) CA 4-Feb-2004
In a hearing where the threshold standard was at issue, a party challenged the compliance with Human Rights law of the 1989 Act. The court adjourned the case for transfer to the High Court.
Held: The correct court to hear such suggestions was . .
Cited – In re V (a Child) (Care: pre-birth actions) CA 12-Oct-2004
Immediately after a child was born, the social worker began proceedings for it to be taken into care. The judge severely criticised the actions of the social worker before the birth. The local authority now appealed against an order at the . .
Cited – Re M (Care: Challenging Decisions by Local Authority) FD 2001
Local authorities involved in care proceedings will infringe the rights of parents and other individual parties to them under both Article 6 and Article 8 of the Convention unless they conduct themselves with integrity, transparency and . .
Cited – NJ v Essex County Council and Another; In re J (Care: Assessment: Fair Trial); Re J (a child) (care proceedings: fair trial) CA 11-May-2006
The family complained that the local authority had, in assessing the need for a care order, failed to follow the guideliens set down in In Re L, leading to an infringement of their human rights.
Held: Neither in the lower court nor here had . .
Cited – Re X; Barnet London Borough Council v Y and Z FD 2006
The judge refused to endorse a local authority’s care plan, and invited the local authority to reconsider it. He criticised the local authority for taking an important decision in pending care proceedings without any warning to the guardian and . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Children, Litigation Practice, Human Rights

Updated: 10 November 2022; Ref: scu.250038

In Re X (Minors) (Care Proceedings: Parental Responsibility): FD 7 Jan 2000

Even though a local authority had obtained an interim care order in an application for the child to be committed to its care, that did not prevent the unmarried mother entering into a parental responsibility agreement with the child’s father. The children were subject to interim orders, and the plan was to place them for adoption. The father’s signing of such an agreement was not an act exercising parental responsibility, and therefore neither could the mother’s signature be, and the Act was not limited by the interim order.

Citations:

Times 19-Jan-2000, Gazette 07-Jan-2000

Statutes:

Children Act 1989 94

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 10 November 2022; Ref: scu.82304

The King v Wilson: 1836

Infant child in custody of the mother, brought up by habeas corpus at the father’s instance. Ordered that the child remain with the mother ; the father’s access to be regulated by the Master.

Citations:

[1836] EngR 245, (1836) 4 Ad and E 648, (1836) 111 ER 930 (B)

Links:

Commonlii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Children

Updated: 09 November 2022; Ref: scu.314577