from the Inner Temple Library
“A child is removed after its parents are accused of abuse. The child is adopted and settles with a new family. If the parents are then cleared, should the child be returned, ask ethicists Rebecca Roache and Barbro Bjorkman.”
BBC News, 16th February 2009
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“A family has won the right to adopt a girl after they were banned when the father smacked a child for swearing.”
Daily Telegraph, 11th February 2009
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“A couple whose children were taken from them and adopted cannot have them back, even though they ‘may be right’ in believing they suffered a miscarriage of justice, three Court of Appeal judges have ruled.”
The Independent, 12th February 2009
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“S 84(4) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 did not require that the period of ten weeks referred to in that section be spent in the United Kingdom.”
WLR Daily, 6th February 2009
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
“New provisions in the Children and Adoption Act 2006, which come into force today, provide new ways to help the courts find solutions in contact cases where there is conflict between the parents about whom a child should see and how often.”
Ministry of Justice, 8th December 2008
Source: www.justice.gov.uk
“New powers to stop warring parents using contact with their children as a weapon could backfire and inflame fraught family relations, according to judges and lawyers.”
The Times, 8th December 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“A couple who had their three children forcibly adopted after being accused of abuse are the victims of a ‘terrible miscarriage of justice’, a court heard.”
Daily Telegraph, 4th December 2008
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“A couple who told social workers they had the right to smack their adopted son have won the right to a re-hearing in a bid to adopt his sister, aged two.”
BBC News, 4th November 2008
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Law lord says they should boldly go where the European Court of Human Rights fears to tread, even if this will mean unmarried couples in Northern Ireland applying to adopt.”
Daily Telegraph, 31st October 2008
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Court of Appeal
“It was wrong to focus on whether a carer was a ‘potential’ rather than a ‘prospective’ adopter when considering whether to revoke a placement order placing a child for adoption.”
The Times, 27th October 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.
In re S (A Child); [2008] WLR (D) 308
“When considering whether to revoke a placement order placing a child for adoption with prospective adopters, it was wrong to focus on whether the carers were ‘potential’ adopters.”
WLR, 8th October 2008
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
MJ and Another v Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council
Court of Appeal
“Flaws in an adoption panel’s decision-making process could not be cured by a subsequent hearing in court.”
The Times, 21st August 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.
Haringey London Borough Council v MA [2008] EWHC 1722 (Fam); [2008] WLR (D) 250
“The court could lawfully order the removal of a child from England and Wales pursuant to para 19 of Sch 2 to the Children Act 1989 to enable a local authority to assess whether adoption abroad by prospective adoptive parents would be the most appropriate welfare solution for that child.”
WLR Daily, 24th July 2008
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
In re P (Adoption: Unmarried couple)
House of Lords
“Regulations governing the adoption of children in Northern Ireland which prevented the consideration of an unmarried couple as potential adoptive parents were in breach of the couple’s rights to a family life, under article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and article 14, prohibiting discrimination.”
The Times, 23rd June 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.
In re P (Adoption: Unmarried couple) [2008] UKHL 38; [2008] WLR (D) 198
“Arts 14 and 15 of the Adoption (Northern Ireland) Order 1987, which prevented an unmarried couple from being considered as potential adoptive parents, were incompatible with the couple’s rights under articles 8 and 14 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, as scheduled to the Human Rights Act 1998.”
WLR Daily, 19th June 2008
Source: www.lawereports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
Court of Appeal
“In contentious adoption cases, where the court was dispensing with parental consent, the question of any contact between the children and their family members was for the court and not the local authority to resolve.”
The Times, 29th May 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.
S-H v Kingston upon Hull City Council and Another
Court of Appeal
“In order to decide whether to grant leave to a parent to apply for revocation of an order placing a child for adoption, the correct test to be applied by the court was whether, in all the circumstances, including the parents’ prospects of securing revocation and the child’s interests, leave should be given.”
The Times, 28th May 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.
SB v A County Council [2008] EWCA Civ 535; [2008] WLR (D) 160
“A judge considering dispensing with parental consent to adoption had to focus on the child’s welfare ‘throughout his life’, to emphasise that adoption, unlike other forms of order, was something with lifelong implications.”
WLR Daily, 21st May 2008
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
S-H v Kingston upon Hull City Council and another [2008] EWCA Civ 493; [2008] WLR (D) 154
“When deciding whether to grant leave to a parent to apply for revocation of an order placing a child for adoption, the court should ask itself the question whether, in all the circumstances, including the parent’s prospect of success in securing revocation and the child’s interests, leave should be given.”
WLR Daily, 16th May 2008
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
C v East Sussex County Council (Adoption)
Court of Appeal
“While Parliament had given social workers wide powers, which they must not abuse, they had to remember that the court was the ultimate arbiter of what was in the best interests of a child.”
The Times, 9th May 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times online for 21 days from the date of publication.
“Two senior judges have strongly criticised a local authority that forced through the adoption of a baby girl against the wishes of her father.”
The Times, 2nd May 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“A father has been jailed for helping his pregnant wife flee abroad because she was terrified that social services would take her baby.”
Daily Telegraph, 8th February 2008
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“A consultation on the government’s strategy for developing the fees system in the civil and family courts of England and Wales. The consultation sets out proposals to:
Public Law Family Fees Consultation Paper (PDF)
Questionnaire (Word)
Ministry of Justice, 19th December 2007
Source: www.justice.gov.uk
In re C (A child)(Adoption: Local authority duty)
Court of Appeal
“There was no duty on a local authority to make inquiries of a child’s extended family or father about the possibility of their providing long-term care where mother wished to place the child for adoption.”
The Times, 5th December 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Please note the Times Law Reports are only available on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.
“Twenty babies born to British surrogate mothers have been taken abroad unlawfully by the foreign couples who commissioned them because of an oversight by British courts, it emerged yesterday.”
The Guardian, 5th December 2007
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
In re C (A Child)(Adoption: Local Authority’s Duty) [2007] EWCA Civ 1206
“S 1 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 did not impose a duty on the local authority to make inquiries of a child’s extended family or father about the possibility of their providing long-term care in circumstances where the child had been conceived as a result of a fleeting relationship and the mother wished to place the child for adoption.”
WLR Daily, 26th November 2007
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note: once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
“A mother’s decision to put a child conceived during a one-night stand up for adoption has turned into a legal dilemma over parental rights and responsibilities.”
The Guardian, 8th November 2007
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“An ex-magistrate who says he was forced to resign because he would not place children for adoption with gay couples has lost his appeal.”
BBC News, 31st October 2007
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“A Christian magistrate was forced to resign because he refused to place children for adoption with gay couples, an employment appeal tribunal was told yesterday.”
The Times, 23rd October 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“A Christian magistrate who claims that he had to quit the bench because he objects to adoption by gay couples is taking the Government to court today.”
Daily Telegraph, 22nd October 2007
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“One of the longest child custody cases in British legal history is to return to the high court as an infertile African couple make a new attempt to recover the child they claim as their ‘miracle’ baby.”
The Guardian, 15th September 2007
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Record numbers of young children are being taken from their parents and adopted – sometimes unjustly – to meet government targets, it is claimed today.”
The Times, 24th August 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“The woman at the centre of a battle with social services over the future of her unborn baby will not be able to claim an exemption from the UK’s Data Protection Act, a legal expert has warned.”
OUT-LAW.com, 22nd August 2007
Source: www.out-law.com
“A heavily pregnant woman is at the centre of an extraordinary legal battle with social workers after she secretly recorded them threatening to take away her newborn baby.”
Daily Telegraph, 19th August 2007
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“Family courts are refusing to tell mothers why their babies are being taken away and put up for forced adoption.”
Daily Telegraph, 5th August 2007
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“The BBC must obscure the identity of a young woman in a documentary on adoption in order to protect her privacy despite the woman consenting to participate in the programme.”
OUT-LAW.com, 13th July 2007
Source: www.out-law.com
“A legal bid to lift the secrecy surrounding children taken from parents and put up for adoption has been launched by an MP.”
The Daily Telegraph, 7th July 2007
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Two-stage decision process for judges
In re P (A Child) (Adoption proceedings)
Court of Appeal
“Judges hearing applications by parents for leave to defend adoption proceedings after a placement order had been made had to undertake a two-stage process: first, decide whether there had been sufficient change of circumstance; then consider what the welfare of the child required.”
The Times, 29th June 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.
In re P (A Child) (Adoption Proceedings)
“A court’s decision whether or not to grant leave to a parent to oppose the making of an adoption order, pursuant to s 47(5) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002, was “a decision relating to the adoption of a child” within the meaning of s 1(1) of the 2002 Act. Therefore, by s 1(2) of the Act, the paramount consideration of the court was the child’s welfare.”
WLR Daily, 27th June 2007
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the WLR Daily summary is removed.
Premature advertising for adoption
In re K (Child) (Adoption: Permission to advertise)
Family Division
“Before a child could be advertised for adoption the local authority had to be satisfied that the child ought to be placed for adoption.”
The Times, 20th April 2007
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.
“A British woman has launched a court challenge to become the legal guardian of a 160lb chimpanzee in a test case that could confer basic rights on apes across Europe. “
The Independent, 9th April 2007
Source: www.independent.co.uk
