In re X (A Minor) (Wardship: Jurisdiction): FD 1975

A stepfather made the child a ward of court in order to try to stop publication of a book containing passages about the sex life of her deceased father. The jurisdiction to order that a child’s name should not be made known, is not exercisable at all where the fact that the child is involved is wholly incidental to the proceedings and the child comes to court solely to prevent publication. The court explained the nature of the wardship jurisdiction: ‘The Crown has a duty to protect its subjects. This is and always has been especially so towards minors, that is to say now, the young under the age of 18. And it is so because children are especially vulnerable. They have not formed the defences inside themselves which older people have, and, therefore, need especial protection. They are also a country’s most valuable asset for the future. So the Crown as parens patriae delegated its powers and duty of protection to the courts. Those powers and that duty so derived are not the creation of any statute and are not limited by any statute. They are there, in my understanding, to protect the young against injury of whatever kind from whatever source.’ It was one thing that the powers exist; it was another whether they should be exercised. The court should tread warily, but an injunction was granted.

Judges:

Latey J

Citations:

[1975] Fam 47

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Appeal fromIn re X (A Minor) (Wardship: Jurisdiction) CA 2-Jan-1975
A child’s stepfather obtained an order preventing publication of a book about the child.
Held: The circumstances were novel, but ‘The court has power to protect the ward from any interference with his or her welfare, direct or indirect.’ There . .
CitedRe S (A Child) CA 10-Jul-2003
The mother of the child on behalf of whom the application was made, was to face trial for murder. The child was in care and an order was sought to restrain publiction of material which might reveal his identity, including matters arising during the . .
CitedIn re S (a Child) (Identification: Restrictions on Publication) HL 28-Oct-2004
Inherent High Court power may restrain Publicity
The claimant child’s mother was to be tried for the murder of his brother by poisoning with salt. It was feared that the publicity which would normally attend a trial, would be damaging to S, and an application was made for reporting restrictions to . .
CitedKelly (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: 15 August 2022; Ref: scu.184555