Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995

Year1995

1995 No. 755 (N.I. 2)

NORTHERN IRELAND

The Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995

Made 15th March 1995

Coming into operation on days to be appointed under Article 1(2)

At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 15th day of March 1995

Present,

The Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty in Council

Whereas a draft of this Order has been approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament:

Now, therefore, Her Majesty, in exercise of the powers conferred by paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 to the Northern Ireland Act 19741and of all other powers enabling Her in that behalf, is pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, as follows:—

1 INTRODUCTORY

PART I

INTRODUCTORY

Title and commencement
S-1 Title and commencement

Title and commencement

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995.

(2) This Order shall come into operation on such day or days as the Secretary of State may by order appoint.

(3) An order under paragraph (2) may also appoint a day for the coming into operation of any provision of an order made under section 38(2) of the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 19732as necessary or expedient in consequence of this Order.

Interpretation
S-2 Interpretation

Interpretation

2.—(1) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 19543shall apply to Article 1 and the following provisions of this Order as it applies to a Measure of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

(2) In this Order—

“Adoption Order” means the Adoption (Northern Ireland) Order 19874;

“Article 8 order” has the meaning given in Article 8(2);

“authority”, where the reference is to a body, means, except in Article 165 and subject to paragraphs (3) and (4), a Board;

“authority foster parent” has the meaning given in Article 27(3) (accommodation and maintenance of children looked after by an authority);

“Board” means a Health and Social Services Board;

“care order” has the meaning given in Article 49(1) and also includes any order which by or under any statutory provision has the effect of, or is deemed to be, a care order for the purposes of this Order;

“child”, except in Parts X, XI and XII (fostering, child minding and employment) and subject to paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 1, means a person under the age of 18;

“child assessment order” has the meaning given in Article 62(2) (child assessment orders);

“child minder” has the meaning given in Article 119;

“child of the family”, in relation to the parties to a marriage, means—

(a) a child of both of those parties;

(b) any other child, not being a child who is placed with those parties as foster parents by an authority or a voluntary organisation, who has been treated by both of those parties as a child of their family;

“children’s home” has the meaning given in Part IX;

“compulsory school age” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 46 of the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 19865;

“contact order” has the meaning given in Article 8(1);

“the court” has the meaning given in Article 164(1) and (2);

“day care” has the same meaning as in Article 19;

“the Department” means the Department of Health and Social Services;

“development” means physical, intellectual, emotional, social or behavioural development;

“disability working allowance” means disability working allowance under Part VII of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 19926;

“disabled” means blind, deaf or dumb or suffering from mental disorder of any kind or substantially and permanently handicapped by illness, injury or congenital deformity or such other disability as may be prescribed;

“education supervision order” has the meaning given in Article 49(1);

“emergency protection order” means an order under Article 63;

“family assistance order” means an order under Article 16;

“family credit” means family credit under Part VII of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 19927;

“family proceedings” has the meaning given in Article 8(3);

“family proceedings court” has the meaning given in Article 164(4);

“family proceedings rules” means family proceedings rules made under Article 12 of the Family Law (Northern Ireland) Order 19938;

“foster a child privately” has the meaning given in Article 106(1);

“guardian of a child” means a guardian (other than a guardian of the fortune or estate of a child) appointed in accordance with the provisions of Article 159 or 160;

“harm” means ill-treatment or the impairment of health or development and the question of whether harm is significant shall be determined in accordance with Article 50(3);

“health” means physical or mental health;

“Health and Social Services trust” means a Health and Social Services trust established under the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 19919;

“homeless persons” shall be construed in accordance with Part II of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 198810;

“hospital” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 2(2) of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 197211;

“ill-treatment” includes sexual abuse and forms of ill-treatment which are not physical;

“income support” means income support under Part VII of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992;

“managers” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 2(2) of the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 198612;

“medical practitioner” means a fully registered person within the meaning of the Medical Act 198313;

“nursing home” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 16 of the Registered Homes (Northern Ireland) Order 199214;

“parental responsibility” has the meaning given in Article 6;

“parental responsibility agreement” has the meaning given in Article 7(1)(b);

“personal social services” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 2(2) of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972;

“police officer” means a member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary or of the Royal Ulster Constabulary Reserve;

“prescribed”, except in Parts II, XII, XV and XVI and Article 176 and in relation to rules of court, means prescribed by regulations made by the Department under this Order;

“private hospital” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 90(2) of the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 198615;

“privately fostered child” has the meaning given in Article 106(1);

“probation order” has the meaning assigned to it by section 1 of the Probation Act (Northern Ireland) 195016;

“prohibited steps order” has the meaning given in Article 8(1);

“protected child” means a child who is a protected child for the purposes of Part IV of the Adoption Order;

“public body” means a body established by or under any statutory provision;

“registered children’s home” has the meaning given in Article 90(1);

“relative”, in relation to a child, means a grandparent, brother, sister, uncle or aunt (whether of the full blood or half blood or by affinity), or step-parent;

“residence order” has the meaning given in Article 8(1);

“residential care home” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 3 of the Registered Homes (Northern Ireland) Order 1992;

“rules of court” includes family proceedings rules, county court rules and magistrates' courts rules (as well as rules of court as defined in section 21(4) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954);

“school” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 2(2) of the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 198617;

“service”, in relation to any provision made under Part IV, includes any facility;

“special educational needs” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 33(2) of the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1986;

“special agency” means a special health and social services agency established under the Health and Personal Social Services (Special Agencies) (Northern Ireland) Order 199018;

“specific issue order” has the meaning given in Article 8(1);

“statutory provision” has the meaning assigned to it by section 1(f) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954;

“supervision order” has the meaning given in Article 49(1);

“supervised child” and “supervisor”, in relation to a supervision order or an education supervision order, mean respectively the child who is (or is to be) under supervision and the person under whose supervision he is (or is to be) by virtue of the order;

“training school” has the meaning assigned to it by section 180(1) of the Children and Young Persons Act (Northern Ireland) 196819;

“upbringing”, in relation to any child, includes the care of the child but not his maintenance;

“voluntary home” has the meaning given in Article 74(1);

“voluntary organisation” has the meaning given in Article 74(1).

(3) Where a function is exercisable by a Health and Social Services trust by virtue of an authorisation for the time being in operation under Article 3(1) of the Health and Personal Socal Services (Northern Ireland) Order 199420, references to an authority are, to the extent that that function is exercisable by that trust, references to that trust.

(4) References in this Order to the area of an authority in relation to any function are—

(a)

(a) where the references are to the area of a Health and Social Services trust, references to the operational area of that trust (as defined in Article 2(2) of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972) in relation to that function;

(b)

(b) where the references are to the area of a Board, references to so much of the area of the Board as does not fall within the operational area of a Health and Social Services trust in relation to that function.

(5) References in this Order to a child whose father and mother were, or (as the case may be) were not, married to each other at the time of his birth shall be construed in accordance with Article 155.

(6) References in this Order—

(a)

(a) to a person with whom a child lives, or is to live, as the result of a residence...

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