Re C (A Minor) (Adoption notice: Local authority)
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 17 June 1994 |
| Date | 17 June 1994 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Civil Division) |
Court of Appeal
Before Lord Justice Butler-Sloss, Lord Justice Peter Gibson and Sir John Megaw
Adoption - leave to seek order - welfare test applicable
The grant of leave by the courts to apply for an adoption order under Part III of the Adoption Act 1976 was governed by section 6 of the Act, so that the court had to give full consideration to the child's welfare in exercising its discretion to grant leave to serve notice of intention not to allow a child to remain in the foster parents' care under section 30(2) of the Act.
The Court of Appeal so held giving reasons for having allowed on May 26 the appeal of the foster mother and would-be adopter of D against an order of Mr Justice Kirkwood made on May 6, 1994 giving leave to Greenwich London Borough Council to serve notice under section 30(2) of the 1976 Act that would enable them to remove D from the foster mother.
Section 6 of the 1976 Act provides: "In reaching any decision relating to the adoption of a child a court or adoption agency shall have regard to all the circumstances, first consideration being given to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of the child throughout his childhood …"
Section 30 provides: "(2) No notice … shall be given in respect of a child in relation to whom an application had been made for an adoption order except with the leave of the court to which the application has been made."
Section 31 provides: "(1) Where a person gives notice in pursuance of section 22(1) to the local authority within whose area he has his home of his intention to apply for an adoption order in respect of a child (a) who is (when the notice is given) being looked after by a local authority; but (b) who was placed with that person otherwise than in pursuance of such arrangements as are mentioned in section 30(1), that section shall apply as if the child had been placed in pursuance of such arrangements except that where the application is refused by the court or withdrawn the child need not be returned to the local authority in whose care he is unless that authority so require."
Mr Mark Everall, QC and Miss Jacqueline Marks for the foster mother; Mr Clive Newton for the guardian ad litem; Mr James Munby, QC, for the local authority and for the alternative adopters; Miss Elizabeth Brann for the natural mother.
LORD JUSTICE BUTLER-SLOSS said D's natural parents had both had psychological problems...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Re C (Care Proceedings: Disclosure of Local Authority's Decision-Making Process)
...2 FCR 32, [2001] 2 FLR 1017. Buchberger v Austria [2001] ECHR 32899/96, ECt HR. C (a minor) (adoption notice: local authority), Re[1994] 2 FCR 839, [1994] 1 WLR 1220, [1994] 2 FLR 513, CA. C (a minor) (application for residence order), Re[1995] 2 FCR 276, [1995] 1 FLR 617, CA. C (adoption: ......
-
R v London (North) Industrial Tribunal, ex parte Associated Newspapers Ltd
......, either on the application of a party made by notice to the Secretary or of its own motion, make a restricted ... position held by an individual with a named local authority, if that is likely to lead to his identification ......
-
R v Cornwall County Council and Another
...child. Accordingly that application would be dismissed. Cases referred to in judgmentC (a minor) (adoption notice: local authority), Re[1994] 2 FCR 839; sub nom Re C (a minor) (adoption) [1994] 1 WLR 1220, CA. C and F (minors) (adoption), Re[1997] 1 FCR 405, CA. R v Lancashire CC, ex p M[19......
-
Re C and F (Minors) (Adoption)
...Act to enable the court to intervene unless it is a case to which s 30(2) applies: see Re C (A Minor) (Adoption Notice: Local Authority)[1994] 2 FCR 839. Mr Posnansky, QC, for the appellant on appeal, has conceded that the court has no jurisdiction under s 30 to prevent the removal of these......