Case Summaries

Fact-finding hearing in Court of Protection proceedings concerning a 29 year old man who has autistic spectrum disorder and a learning disability.

Judgment of the ECtHR in respect of an application by a British national who alleged that his committal to prison for civil contempt and the subsequent civil proceedings by which he sought to obtain redress, violated his rights under Articles 5 and 6 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

Application by NHS Trust under the inherent jurisdiction for declarations relating to the medical treatment and nursing care of a 7 year old child against the wishes of her parents. Declarations granted.

Application by a mother under the Hague Convention for the return of two children to Australia.

Application for permission to withdraw proceedings under the 1980 Hague Convention. Application granted.

Mother’s application under the 1980 Hague Convention for the summary return of her 15 year old son to the USA. Review of the principles to be applied when considering whether to make a child a party to proceedings under the Convention.

Keehan J’s judgment on an application for declaratory relief by a 16 year-old young man experiencing gender dysphoria in terms that his adoptive parents do not receive information about his day-to-day life, medical assessment or possible treatment.

Hague Convention application in which the President of the Family Division sets out observations as to when, if at all, the court should deal with Hague proceedings in a manner which is not merely ‘summary’ but ‘ultra-summary’.

Application by a father for the committal to prison (or other penalty) of a mother for the alleged contempt of a court order requiring her to return two children to England and Wales from India.

Findings of fact relating to threshold in respect of serious and historic abuse perpetrated by A, the father of D (the subject of care proceedings), sought by the local authority on the basis of hearsay evidence.

Application under the Child Abduction and Custody Act 1985 involving a thirteen year old child, who, having been wrongfully retained in England and Wales, is returned to Ireland, despite his vociferous objections.

Application by mother to be released from a prohibited steps order preventing her from removing the parties’ two children from the jurisdiction so that she could take them to a family wedding in Malaysia. Application granted.

The claimant (W) sought a freezing order and an asset preservation order against the respondent, her former husband (H), and several companies in which H had shares.

Successful appeal from the First Tier Tribunal (‘FTT’) regarding the amount of a parent’s child support maintenance liabilities. The Upper Tier Tribunal (‘UTT’) held that the FTT had erred in law as a result of misconstruing the Child Support Maintenance Regulations 2012.

Guidance from the Upper Tribunal as to how the First-tier Tribunal should exercise case management powers to ensure in child support cases that a parent is not prevented from attending a hearing because of fear of intimidation.

Judgment concerning babies relinquished for adoption. Approval of adoption does not depend on local authority or court reaching the conclusion that ‘nothing else will do’. Consideration of issues including obligations under Vienna Convention when child relinquished for adoption or otherwise voluntarily accommodated by a local authority.