Care proceedings statement disclosed to MI5
The court had decided to permit the Local Authority to disclose the mother’s statement made to them in care proceedings to the Police imposing certain additional restrictions. The Police now applied for permission to disclose the statement further to the Security Service. There was concern that the father of the child may be fighting in Syria and that the mother would follow him with the child.
Held: The application was granted. The court noted that the security services were not a ‘person’ identified within the family proceedings rules and that therefore it was for the Commissioner to justify the proposal. The court imposed conditions.
When deciding as to such onward disclosure of documents, the court should consider seeral factors including the welfare of the child and of any other children, the balance of confidentiality and frankness in children’s cases, the public interest in the administration of justice, the prosecution of serious crime and punishment of offenders, the gravity of the alleged offence and relevance of the evidence to it, the desirability of co-operation between various agencies concerned with the welfare of children, and the protection against the admissibility in criminal proceedings of statements of admission made in proceedings under the Children Act 1989, and any human rights issues, and impose any necessary conditions.
MacDonald J
[2016] EWHC 2400 (Fam), [2016] 4 WLR 153, [2016] WLR(D) 509
Bailii, WLRD
Family Proceedings Rules 12.73(1)(b)
England and Wales
Police, Human Rights, Children
Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.570172
