Case Summaries

Appeal by mother against care and placement orders made in respect of her twin daughters. Appeal dismissed and application remitted for re-hearing.

Appeal by father and grandmother of findings of fact within care proceedings

Application by local authority in the course of care proceedings for a declaration of non-recognition of a marriage in Pakistan of a 14-year old girl. Application dismissed.

Contempt proceedings in respect of three members of family of a woman, who had removed her daughter from the jurisdiction, for their failure to divulge the whereabouts of the child. All three family members held to be in contempt. Sentencing adjourned.

Application for wasted costs orders arising from an error made in a report after a blood alcohol testing.

Appeal by a stepfather against a finding made in private law proceedings that he had sexually assaulted his step daughter. Appeal dismissed.

Consideration by the Court of Appeal as to when a placement order can be made

Appeal from refusal of permission to apply for provision under the Inheritance Act 1975 some six years after the death of the deceased.

Application by mother for a residence order, for an order granting her permission to change the child’s forename and surname, and for an order terminating the father’s parental responsibility.

Application within care proceedings for the transfer of the proceedings and of the children themselves to the Slovak Republic under Art 15 of Brussels II Revised. Application dismissed.

Judgment in fact-finding hearing concerning a child who had suffered a serious head injury where the local authority claimed that the father had deliberately injured her and he claimed that the injury was accidental. Held, after hearing several expert witnesses, that that the father’s account was more likely than not to be correct.

Fact finding hearing in care proceedings to establish the cause of injuries suffered by a six month old girl.

Appeal of care and placement for adoption orders in which McFarlane LJ emphasises the need for trial judges to consider sections 1 and 52 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 before approving a care plan for adoption where an application for a Placement Order is before the court or imminent

Application by mother to appeal placement orders made in 2012. Delays in matter coming before the court. Pragmatic way forward agreed.

Welfare stage of care proceedings; disagreement of guardian with local authority as to appropriate plan; criticism of guardian in relation to her discussions with the child, which court found had resulted in emotional harm.

Long-awaited judgment of the Court of Appeal regarding the impact of the ECJ decision in Owusu v Jackson [2005] QB 801 on the power of the English court to stay divorce proceedings on the grounds of forum non conveniens.