swarb.co.uk - law index
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Children - From: 1994 To: 1994
This page lists 92 cases, and was prepared on 20 May 2019.
Family Proceedings (Amendment No 3) Rules 1994 No 2890; FD 1994 - Gazette, 15 February 1995
In re H and R (Minors) [1995] 1 FLR 641
1994
CA
Sir Stephen Brown P, Millett LJ, Kennedy LJ
Children
An allegation had been made by a daughter of sexual abuse against her step-father. Despite his acquittal, the local authority went ahead with an application for a care order. The authority now appealed against a finding that it had not established a risk to the children to a sufficient standard. Held. The appeal failed. The judge had used a two stage approach. That was approved.
Millett LJ said: "If the likelihood of the child suffering harm in the future depends upon the truth of disputed allegations, the court must investigate the allegations and determine, on the balance of probabilities, whether they are true or false. It is not sufficient that there is a real possibility that the allegations may be true if the probability is that they are not." As to the differing circumstances covered by the sub-section: "In the first it is plain that the court must be satisfied, on a balance of probabilities, that the child is suffering significant harm. It is not enough for the court to conclude that there is a real possibility that the child may be suffering significant harm. The same test must be applied to the second factual situation."
Kennedy LJ dissented.
Children Act 1989 31(2)(a)
1 Cites
1 Citers
Re H (Minors) (Injunction: Public Interest) [1994] 1 FLR 519
1994
Children, Media
A father with whom children were living was restrained from publicising his sex change in order to protect the children from harassment. The injunction was in contra mundum form.
1 Citers
A v A (a minor; financial provision) (1994) 1 FLR 657
1994
Children
1 Citers
In re E (A Minor) (Care Order: Contract) [1994] 1 FLR 146
1994
CA
Simon Brown LJ
Children
The court considered the benefits to a child of continuing parental contact while the child remained in care.
Simon Brown LJ said: "I recognise of course that the threshold criteria for a care order under section 31 of the 1989 Act require the court to be satisfied that a child is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm attributable to inadequate parenting and that that inadequacy would normally be attributable to the quality of the parent/child relationship. Nevertheless, although the value of contact may be limited by the parents' inadequacy, it may still be of fundamental importance to the long-term welfare of the child, unless of course it can be seen that in a given case it will inevitably disturb the child's care. In short, even when the section 31 criteria are satisfied, contact may well be of singular importance to the long-term welfare of the child: first, in giving the child the security of knowing that his parents love him and are interested in his welfare; secondly, by avoiding any damaging sense of loss to the child in seeing himself abandoned by his parents; thirdly, by enabling the child to commit himself to the substitute family with the seal of approval of the natural parents; and, fourthly, by giving the child the necessary sense of family and personal identity. Contact, if maintained, is capable of reinforcing and increasing the chances of success of a permanent placement, whether on a long-term fostering basis or by adoption."
Children Act 1989 31
1 Citers
In re J (a Minor) (Contact) [1994] 2 FLR 729
1994
CA
Balcombe LJ
Children
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."
1 Citers
M v Ferguson 1994 SCLR 487
1994
Scotland, Children
The court looked at whether a young child was competent to give evidence.
1 Citers
Brixey v Lynas Ind Summary, 22 November 1993; 1994 SC 606
1994
Scotland, Children
"However difficult it may be, the Court must as we have mentioned take a long term view in relation to the interests of a child. We agree with what is said in Wilkinson at page 212 (Wilkinson & Norrie: The Law Relating to Parent and Child in Scotland) that 'although custody decisions, in contrast with adoption orders, are in principle readily open to review, a custody order once made is in practice and for good reason, usually very difficult to disturb and that the Court should take a long view rather than be influenced by transient considerations applicable only to the early years of a child's life'".
1 Citers
In Re J (Minors) (Care: Care Plan) [1994] 1 FLR 253
1994
FD
Wall J
Children
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."
Family Law Reform Act 1969 72 - Children Act 1989 1 31 38
1 Citers
In re S (Minors) (Abduction: Acquiescence) [1994] 1 FLR 819
1994
Neill LJ
Children
For the purposes of Article 13 of the Convention, the question whether the wronged parent has "acquiesced" in the removal or retention of the child depends upon his actual state of mind of the parent: "the court is primarily concerned, not with the question of the other parent's perception of the applicant's conduct, but with the question whether the applicant acquiesced in fact".
Child Abduction and Custody Act 1985
1 Citers
Perrin v Perrin [1994] SC 45
1994
IHCS
Children, Scotland
Child Abduction and Custody Act 1985 5
1 Cites
1 Citers
In Re R (Wardship: Restrictions on Publication) [1994] Fam 254; [1994] 2 FLR 637; [1994] 3 All ER 658; [1994] 3 WLR 36
1994
CA
Sir Thomas Bingham MR, Millett LJ
Children, Media
The parents had separated and the child made a ward of court. The mother had care and control and the father had access. The father abducted the child to Israel but she was recovered. The father was extradited to stand trial here. He sought publicity for his views upon the treatment of fathers by the family courts. In the Family Division, an order was made prohibiting publicity in very wide terms, which would have precluded virtually any reporting of the criminal proceedings. He appealed. Held: The order was varied to permit the reporting of the father's criminal trial. Save by statute reports of proceedings in a court should only be restrained 'where and to the extent that restraint is shown to be necessary for the purpose of protecting the proper administration of justice'. Although publicity about the ward should be as limited as possible, restraining reports of the criminal trial was not necessary 'to enable the judge to do justice in the wardship proceedings'. There was no statutory provision automatically restricting reporting, but section 39 did apply to enable the criminal court to prohibit identification of the ward as the victim of the alleged crime. He had 'the greatest doubt', about the first instance view on its power to restrain reporting of the criminal trial, but if he had he should have left it to the criminal judge to decide whether to do so.
Millett LJ said that apart from the contempt jurisdiction, "the wardship judge has an additional jurisdiction to prohibit the publication of information concerning the ward which is directed at the ward or at those having responsibility for the ward's upbringing, thereby threatening the effective working of the court's jurisdiction; . . this last mentioned jurisdiction is of recent origin. Its source and justification lie in the inherent power of the court to protect the integrity of its own process. There is no jurisdiction in the wardship court to protect its wards from adverse publicity which does not threaten the effective working of the court's jurisdiction merely on the ground that such publicity would be contrary to the interests of the ward or damaging to his welfare".
He drew a distinction between the inherent jurisdiction and the statutory powers under section 39 which 'unlike the wardship jurisdiction' could be used for the sole purpose of protecting children from harmful publicity. The limiting principle of the wardship jurisdiction: "may be expressed more generally by saying that the wardship court has no power to exempt its ward from the general law, or to obtain for its ward rights and privileges not generally available to children who are not wards of court; or by saying that the wardship court can seek to achieve for its ward all that wise parents or guardian acting in concert and exclusively in the interests of the child could achieve, but no more . . Nor can it protect the ward from adverse publicity as such."
Children and Young Persons Act 1933 39
1 Citers
Re D (Minors) (Wardship: Disclosure) [1994] 1 FLR 346
1994
CA
Sir Stephen Brown P
Children
The most important factor pointing against disclosure, other than the interests of the child involved is 'the importance of confidentiality in wardship proceedings and the frankness which it engenders in those who give evidence to the wardship court'."
1 Citers
Re M (Minors) Ind Summary, 03 January 1994
3 Jan 1994
CA
Children
Hague Convention order to return child is final and is not capable of variation.
Hague Convention 1980
Re S (A Minor) Ind Summary, 10 January 1994
10 Jan 1994
CA
Children
If a care order is made the Judge should not intervene in Local Authority's plans for contact.
Manchester City Council v T and Another Times, 12 January 1994
12 Jan 1994
CA
Children
Guardian ad litem entitled to examine case record prepared on adopters.
Children Act 1989 42(1)(b)
Practice Direction Family Division Children Act Hearings Gazette, 12 January 1994
12 Jan 1994
FD
Children
Detailed directions on filing of time estimates greater or less than one day.
Practice Direction Children Cases Time Estimates Ind Summary, 17 January 1994
17 Jan 1994
FD
Children
Direction for giving time estimates in High Court children cases.
Re M (A Minor) Ind Summary, 24 January 1994
24 Jan 1994
CA
Children
A Court was to listen to the views of a 13 year old child before returning him or her under the Hague Convention.
Regina v South East Hampshire Family Proceedings Court ex parte D; QBD 26-Jan-1994 - Times, 26 January 1994
In Re F (Minors) (Contact: Restraint Order); CA 2-Feb-1994 - Times, 02 February 1994
A v A (Children: Shared Residence Order); CA 3-Feb-1994 - Times, 23 February 1994; [1994] 1 FLR 669
Re M (Minors: Disclosure of Evidence); In Re M (Minors: Disclosure of Welfare Report) Times, 15 February 1994; Independent, 04 February 1994
4 Feb 1994
CA
Children
The power in a court to withhold evidence from one party was only to be used exceptionally.
Re B (Minors: Contact) Ind Summary, 07 February 1994; [1994] 2 FLR 1
7 Feb 1994
CA
Children
A Judge may deal with case on the papers and summarily or after an oral hearing at his discretion.
1 Citers
Regina v South East Family Proceedings Court ex parte D Ind Summary, 07 February 1994
7 Feb 1994
FD
Children
Delay not only consideration on transfer from FPC to County Court.
Re D (Minors); FD 14-Feb-1994 - Ind Summary, 14 February 1994
Re A ( A Minor) Ind Summary, 14 February 1994
14 Feb 1994
CA
Children
Joint residence order can be appropriate where residence to be shared.
Children Act 1989 8(1) 11(4)
In Re S (Minors) (Abduction: Custody Rights); CA 16-Feb-1994 - Times, 16 February 1994
R (Mrs) v Central Independent Television Plc; CA 17-Feb-1994 - Independent, 17 February 1994; [1994] Fam 192; [1994] 2 FLR 151; [1994] 3 All ER 641
Re S (Minors) Independent, 25 February 1994
25 Feb 1994
CA
Children
Delay following wrong legal advice not to be treated as acquiescence.
In Re D (Minors) (Time) Times, 02 March 1994
2 Mar 1994
FD
Children
Lawyers for all parties were to agree estimates of time required in child cases.
Regina v Director of Public Prosecutions, Ex Parte C Gazette, 07 September 1994; Times, 07 March 1994
7 Mar 1994
QBD
Crime, Children, Criminal Practice
The doli incapax assumption that a child does not have a guilty mind, is no longer an appropriate presumption for a 12 year old youth. A prosecutor must act in accordance with the guidelines issued pursuant to the Act.
Prosecution of Offenders Act 1985 10
1 Citers
Re G (Minors) (Expert Witnesses) [1994] EWHC Fam 3; [1994] Fam Law 428; [1994] 2 FCR 106; [1994] 2 FLR 291
7 Mar 1994
FD
Wall J
Children
[ Bailii ]
F (a minor) v Leeds City Council Independent, 01 April 1994; Times, 10 March 1994
10 Mar 1994
CA
Children
A child who was the subject of an application under the Act has welfare priority over even his own child-parent's upbringing.
Children Act 1989 31
Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council v E and Others Independent, 13 April 1994; Times, 16 March 1994; [1994] 1 FLR 568 CA
16 Mar 1994
CA
Children
The judge need not decide on the outcome of a residence order application before going on to consider a care order. There was no necessary order of consideration. A care order should not normally be made to Local Authority if a capable family member will take child.
Children Act 1989 32(1)
1 Citers
Sutton London Borough Council v Davis Gazette, 18 May 1994; Independent, 17 March 1994; Times, 17 March 1994
17 Mar 1994
FD
Children, Local Government
Local Authority need not be inflexible in assessing fitness of child minder - smacking. A child minder refusing to sign Local Authority's no-smack undertaking can still be registered.
Children Act 1989 77(6)
1 Cites
1 Citers
Re G (Minors) Ind Summary, 28 March 1994
28 Mar 1994
FD
Children
Court to supervise and restrain use of experts in public law child cases.
C (A Minor) v Director of Public Prosecutions Times, 30 March 1994; [1995] 1 Cr App R 118
30 Mar 1994
QBD
Laws J
Crime, Children
The 12 year old defendant held the handlebars of a motorcycle allowing a second boy to try to remove the chain and padlock securing it. He appealed against his conviction. Held: The presumption of doli incapax for a 10-14 year old child is no longer good law. Laws J said: "Whatever may have been the position in an earlier age, when there was no system of universal compulsory education and when, perhaps, children did not grow up as quickly as they do nowadays, this presumption at the present time is a serious disservice to our law. It means that a child over ten who commits an act of obvious dishonesty, or even grave violence, is to be acquitted unless the prosecution specifically prove by discrete evidence that he understands the obliquity of what he is doing. It is unreal and contrary to common sense;" and "Even that is not the end of it. The rule is divisive and perverse: divisive, because it tends to attach criminal consequences to the acts of children coming from what used to be called good homes more readily than to the acts of others; perverse, because it tends to absolve from criminal responsibility the very children most likely to commit criminal acts. It must surely nowadays be regarded as obvious that, where a morally impoverished upbringing may have led a teenager into crime, the facts of his background should go not to his guilt, but to his mitigation; the very emphasis placed in modern penal policy upon the desirability of non-custodial disposals designed to be remedial rather than retributive - especially in the case of young offenders - offers powerful support for the view that delinquents under the age of 14, who may know no better than to commit antisocial and sometimes dangerous crimes, should not be held immune from the criminal justice system, but sensibly managed within it. Otherwise they are left outside the law, free to commit further crime, perhaps of increasing gravity, unchecked by the courts whose very duty it is to bring them to book." and "the presumption is in principle objectionable. It is no part of the general law that a defendant should be proved to appreciate that his act is 'seriously wrong.' He may even think his crime to be justified; in the ordinary way no such consideration can be prayed in aid in his favour. Yet in a case where the presumption applies, an additional requirement, not insisted upon in the case of an adult, is imposed as a condition of guilt, namely a specific understanding in the mind of the child that his act is seriously wrong. This is out of step with the general law."
1 Cites
1 Citers
In Re G (Minors) (Medical Experts) Times, 04 April 1994
4 Apr 1994
FD
Children, Evidence
The court is to exercise control over proceeedings with particular regard to unnecessary investigations carried out by medical experts.
Children Act 1989
Teame v Aberash and Others; Regina v Secretary of State for Home Dept ex parte Teame; CA 8-Apr-1994 - Ind Summary, 02 May 1994; Times, 08 April 1994
In Re B (A Minor: Contact Order) Times, 08 April 1994
8 Apr 1994
FD
Ewbank J
Children
In a disputed contact case, the parties had agreed that their should be monitored interim access, and this was supported by the Court Welfare Officer. The magistrates declined to make an order fearing that this would delay the final order. Held: The Justices had been wrong to refuse to make the order. Delay would principally affect issues as to the upbringing of the child. It was difficult to see how a monitored programme of contact could be detrimental to a child. There was no conflict with the need to make speedy decisions to protect a child, and the order would undoubtedly be better for the child before the hearing. The result of the magistrates' refusal to make an order was that the child had lost four months of possible contact with his father.
Children Act 1989 1(2)
Re Hiv Ind Summary, 24 April 1994
24 Apr 1994
FD
Children
Proceedings re HIV status of children should be dealt with in High Court.
In Re R (A Minor) (Wardship: Restraint of Publication) Times, 25 April 1994; [1994] 1 Fam 254
25 Apr 1994
CA
Millett LJ
Children, Media
In a criminal case involving a ward of court, the judge in the criminal case may restrict the reporting without leaving it for the wardship Judge. The jurisdiction of the High Court in cases involving the care and upbringing of children over whose welfare the court is exercising a supervisory role is " . . . theoretically unlimited. But in practice its exercise is limited by the nature and source of the jurisdiction itself, which is historically derived from the protective jurisdiction of the Crown as parens patriae"
Children and Young Persons Act 1933 39
1 Citers
Regina v Derbyshire County Council Ex Parte K Times, 02 May 1994
2 May 1994
FD
Children
Social workers can evidence that disclosure may cause child serious harm.
Access to Personal Files Regulations
In Re T (A Minor)(Care Order: Conditions) Times, 05 May 1994
5 May 1994
CA
Children
A judge has no power to attach conditions with regard to the setting or residence on a s31 order.
Children Act 1989 31
In Re X (A Minor) (HIV Tests) Times, 05 May 1994
5 May 1994
FD
Children
Applications for blood tests for child's HIV status to be in High Court.
In Re B (A Minor)(Child Abduction: Consent) Gazette, 15 June 1994; Times, 12 May 1994; Ind Summary, 09 May 1994; [1994] 2 FLR 294
9 May 1994
CA
Waite LJ
Children, International
A six year old boy, had lived in Western Australia all his life. Shortly prior to his removal from Australia, the mother had left Australia to live in Wales. The maternal grandmother asked the father for permission to take the child to Wales to visit the mother. The father said he would not allow the child to leave Australia for longer than 6 months, and he insisted that legal arrangements be put in place for the child's return. Accordingly, the father, maternal grandmother and the mother entered into "minutes of consent order" whereby the parents would have joint guardianship, the father sole custody, and the grandmother would return the child to Western Australia by a particular date. However, the minutes of consent were not able to be registered and were therefore not legally enforceable in Western Australia. The father was persuaded by the mother's assurances, and the grandmother's provision of a bond, that they were sincere in their undertaking to return the child to Australia. The mother later admitted in evidence that she signed the agreement without any intention of cooperating with its terms. The trial judge found that the consent was obtained by deceit. The mother appealed. Held: A consent to a child's removal from a country which had been obtained by deceit was not to be relied upon readily. An order for the return of a child to its home country could be made without a formal order having been made in that country. A claim of duress failed.
Waite LJ said: "The central issue.
Her counsel, Mr Munby, has not sought to suggest that the mother's conduct, or that of the maternal grandmother, can be defended on any equitable or moral ground. The judge's finding that: 'the mother, assisted by her own mother, cruelly deceived the father; and she now seeks to profit by her deceit', is not challenged. The crucial issues are:
. (2) does the fact that the father's consent to that removal was obtained by deception require him to be treated as though he had never consented at all, so as to render the removal a breach of his 'rights of custody'?
. . Mr Munby contends that the father's consent to F's removal on 25 August 1993 was a genuine consent, however fraudulently obtained by the mother and maternal grandmother. The deceit may be reprehensible, but the fact that consent can (sic) given makes it impossible to say that the removal was wrongful in the sense of involving a breach of the father's rights of custody. Mr Holman submits that the judge was right to hold that a consent obtained by deceit is no consent . .
. . As for the issue of consent, the question whether a purported consent to the child's removal obtained from the aggrieved parent was or was not a valid consent is similarly to be determined according to the circumstances of each case. The only starting-point that can be stated with reasonable certainty is that the courts of the requested State are unlikely to regard as valid a consent that has been obtained through a calculated and deliberate fraud on the part of the absconding parent. That applies in my judgment whatever the purpose for which the consent is relied on -- whether it be to nullify what would otherwise be considered a wrongful breach of rights of custody for the purposes of Art 3, or as a consent of the kind that is expressly referred to in Art. 13(a).'
Here again, the judge in my view reached a conclusion that is unassailable. The father's consent to F's removal last August was indeed obtained through a cruel deceit. It was cruel, moreover, not only to the father but to the child. F is only 6, but he is old enough to understand the assurance given to him when he left Australia that he would be returned after an interval to the only country he had ever known and the only parent who had given him continuous and consistent care; and vulnerable enough to suffer if that expectation is destroyed. The judge was right to hold that a consent so obtained was no true consent at all."
Child Abduction and Custody Act 1985
1 Citers
B v B (Minors) (Residence and Care Disputes) Gazette, 01 June 1994; Times, 13 May 1994
13 May 1994
CA
Children
A Judge should only see children in court proceedings occasionally, and for good reason and only after consultation.
In Re W v G (Paternity); In Re A (A Minor); CA 18-May-1994 - Times, 18 May 1994; [1994] 2 FLR 463
Re T (A Minor) (Care Order Conditions) Ind Summary, 23 May 1994; Gazette, 01 June 1994
23 May 1994
CA
Children
After the Judge finds s31 to be satisfied he cannot then add conditions to the residence order.
Children Act 1989 31
In R B (Minors) (Wardship: Power to Detain) Times, 24 May 1994; [1994] 2 FLR 479
24 May 1994
CA
Children, Contempt of Court
A wardship court may not order the detention of a person after an arrest without a finding first of contempt.
1 Citers
C (A Minor) v Humberside County Council and Another Times, 24 May 1994; Ind Summary, 20 June 1994
24 May 1994
FD
Children, Magistrates
Justices cannot make a three month secure accommodation order after an earlier one month interim order. The total order must not exceed three months.
Children Act 1989 25
In Re B (A Minor) (Secure Accommodation Order) Times, 27 May 1994
27 May 1994
CA
Children
The period of a secure accommodation order runs from the date of the order and not the date in which the child was in fact placed in the secure accomodation.
Children Act 1989 25
Re M (A Minor) (Care Orders: Threshold Conditions); HL 7-Jun-1994 - Times, 22 July 1994; Gazette, 12 October 1994; Independent, 18 August 1994; [1994] 2 AC 424; (1994) 92 LGR 701; [1994] 3 WLR 558; [1994] 3 All ER 298
Re AB (Child Abuse: Expert Witnesses) [1994] EWHC Fam 5; [1995] Fam Law 62; [1995] 1 FCR 280; [1995] 1 FLR 181
1 Jul 1994
FD
Wall J
Children
[ Bailii ]
In Re C (A Minor) (Secure Accommodation Order: Bail) Times, 05 July 1994
5 Jul 1994
FD
Children
A child bailed to a Local Authority may be made subject to a secure accommodation order.
Children Act 1989 25
In Re B (A Minor) (Child Abduction: Habitual Residence) Times, 05 July 1994
5 Jul 1994
FD
Children
Child didn't lose habitual residence after attempted reconciliation abroad.
In Re W (A Minor) (Secure Accommodation Order: Attendance At Court); FD 13-Jul-1994 - Times, 13 July 1994; [1994] 2 FLR 1092
In Re R (A Minor) (Contact:Consent Order) Times, 18 July 1994
18 Jul 1994
CA
Children
An appeal permitted against a consent order where the Judge had pressured a party by giving a warning on costs.
Re W Ind Summary, 18 July 1994
18 Jul 1994
FD
Children
A child may be present at a secure accommodation order hearing but only if in it was in his interests.
Re B Ind Summary, 18 July 1994
18 Jul 1994
FD
Children
A trial reconciliation between the parents in Canada did not make a child habitually resident there.
Regina v Northavon District Council ex parte Smith; HL 18-Jul-1994 - Gazette, 19 October 1994; Independent, 21 July 1994; Times, 18 July 1994
Re B Ind Summary, 25 July 1994
25 Jul 1994
CA
Children
Court must release immediately person from 'seek and find' order unless contempt is alleged and shown.
In Re M (Minors) (Child Abduction: Undertakings) Times, 15 August 1994; [1995] 1 FLR 1021
15 Aug 1994
CA
Children
A Hague Convention order was not appealable, nor do undertakings fetter the court's discretion.
1 Citers
In Re AB (A Minor) (Medical Issues: Expert Evidence) Times, 17 August 1994; (1995) 1FLR 192
17 Aug 1994
FD
Children, Evidence
An expert witness in child abuse cases was to explain all aspects of any controversial theory.
1 Citers
Re M (Minors: Child Abduction) Ind Summary, 22 August 1994
22 Aug 1994
CA
Children
Order returning child is final order, and any appeal is to the Court of Appeal not to the Family Division.
Child Abduction and Custody Act 1985
Re C (A Minor: Secure Accomodation Order) Ind Summary, 29 August 1994
29 Aug 1994
FD
Children
Grant of bail has no implications for secure accommodation order.
In Re S (A Minor)(Adoption Order: Conditions) Gazette, 31 August 1994
31 Aug 1994
CA
Children
The Court was wrong to attach a condition to an adoption order, appointment of guardian ad litem.
Hokkanen v Finland 19823/92; (1994) 19 EHRR 139; [1994] ECHR 32; [1994] ECHR 32
23 Sep 1994
ECHR
Human Rights, Children
Hudoc Judgment (Merits and just satisfaction) Violation of Art. 8; No violation of Art. 6-1; Not necessary to examine Art. 13; Not necessary to examine P7-5; Non-pecuniary damage - financial award; Costs and expenses partial award - domestic proceedings
In private law cases, just as much as in public law cases, Article 8 includes "a right for the parent to have measures taken with a view to his or her being reunited with the child and an obligation for the national authorities to take such action."
European Convention on Human Rights 8
1 Citers
[ Bailii ] - [ Bailii ]
In Re C (A Minor) (Child Support Agency: Disclosure) Times, 07 October 1994; Gazette, 09 November 1994
7 Oct 1994
FD
Child Support, Children
There is no power to use the Child Support Agency to obtain a father's address. The Children Act is to be used instead. The Secretary of State was not obliged under Child Support legislation to disclose a father's address.
Child Support Act 1991 50(6)
Keller v Keller and Legal Aid Board Times, 28 October 1994; Independent, 21 October 1994; [1995] 1 FLR 259
21 Oct 1994
CA
Neill LJ
Legal Aid, Children
The standard practice of not awarding costs in children cases overrides the possibility of making a hardship order from Landlord. Costs orders are unusual in custody disputes and no order was to be made against the Legal Aid Board in favour of an unassisted party.
Neill LJ said: "In the last decade, however, it has become the general practice in proceedings relating to the custody and care and control of children to make no order as to the costs of the proceedings except in exceptional circumstances", but it was "unnecessary and undesirable to try to limit or place into rigid categories the cases which a court might regard as suitable for such an award".
Legal Aid Act 1988 18(4)(a)
1 Citers
In Re S (A Minor) (Residence Order: Jurisdiction); FD 21-Oct-1994 - Times, 21 October 1994
In Re the Children Act 1989 (Taxation of Costs); FD 21-Oct-1994 - Times, 21 October 1994
In Re D (Minors) (Family Appeals) Times, 28 October 1994
28 Oct 1994
CA
Children
Counsel may have a duty to advise against sad family cases being pursued to appeal.
Re M (Minors) Independent, 02 November 1994
2 Nov 1994
CA
Children
Harm to children from continued contact can outweigh relationship with mother.
Children Act 1989 1(3)(b)
In re S (A Minor) (Residence Order Jurisdiction); FD 9-Nov-1994 - Gazette, 09 November 1994
In Re A (A Minor) (Supervision Order: Extension) Times, 11 November 1994; [1995] 1 FLR 335
11 Nov 1994
CA
Children
Justices do not have the power to make an interim care order pending a later hearing on the extension of an existing supervision order.
Children Act 1989 31
1 Citers
In Re M (A Minor) (Secure Accommodation Order) Times, 15 November 1994; [1995] 1 FLR 418
15 Nov 1994
CA
Children
On making a secure accommodation order, the welfare of the child is a relevant but not the paramount consideration. The Court referred to the responsibility of reaching "so serious and Draconian a decision as the restriction upon the liberty of the child".
Children Act 1989 25
1 Citers
Re F and R Ind Summary, 21 November 1994
21 Nov 1994
FD
Children
Judge to hear oral evidence where affidavit evidence in stark contradiction.
Children Act 1989 8
In Re C (Minor) (Access: Attendance of Court Welfare Officer); CA 21-Nov-1994 - Times, 21 November 1994
In Re M (A Minor) (Family Proceedings: Affidavits) Times, 23 November 1994
23 Nov 1994
CA
Children
It was wrong to file an affidavit of a child who was the subject of proceedings on the appeal hearing.
Cleveland County Council v Director of Public Prosecutions and Another Gazette, 08 February 1995; Times, 01 December 1994
1 Dec 1994
QBD
Children, Criminal Sentencing
Justices have no power, when commit a child to the care of a Local Authority to specify at the same time, where the child was to reside.
Children and Young Persons Act 1969 23
Re A (A Minor) Ind Summary, 05 December 1994
5 Dec 1994
CA
Children
Court may not make care order on application to extend supervision order.
Children Act 1989 35
In Re R (Minors: Child Abduction); FD 5-Dec-1994 - Times, 05 December 1994
F v R (Children: Contact Order) Times, 06 December 1994
6 Dec 1994
FD
Children
When two opposing statements for contact application, the Judge should hear oral evidence.
In Re C (Children Act 1989: Expert Evidence); FD 7-Dec-1994 - Times, 07 December 1994
In Re D (Minors) (Adoption Reports: Confidentiality) Times, 08 December 1994
8 Dec 1994
CA
Children, Adoption
A guardian ad litem's promise of confidentiality to a child can broken by a court, and the guardian must be careful in making such promises.
Adoption Rules 1984 53(2)
1 Citers
Re M (A Minor) Ind Summary, 12 December 1994
12 Dec 1994
FD
Children
The welfare of the child is not the paramount consideration on an application for child to be remanded to secure accommodation by Local Authority.
Children Act 1989 1 25
In Re F (A Minor) (Criminal Proceedings); CA 12-Dec-1994 - Times, 12 December 1994; Ind Summary, 16 January 1995
Re M (A Minor) Independent, 14 December 1994
14 Dec 1994
CA
Children
A child's racial background was relevant when a court asked about continuing contact with a black father.
In Re M (A Minor) (Contact Order) Times, 21 December 1994
21 Dec 1994
CA
Children
Justices are to give reasons before departing from a Welfare Officers report.
In Re S (Minors)(Proceedings: Conflict of Interest); FD 29-Dec-1994 - Times, 29 December 1994
