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Appeals and clarification of a judge’s reasons: Re P (A Child)
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Clarification of a court judgment
The recent Court of Appeal decision of
Re P (A Child) [2018] EWCA Civ 720 (11 April 2018) concerned T (born we are told ‘in 2000’: ie she is 17 or over see the Children Act 1989 s 31(3) below) and her younger sister X. The case operates on a number of levels. The main issue for the Court of Appeal was the judge’s failure to provide a clear and prompt judgment to explain her original determination (communicated in abbreviated form as explained below); and then to fail to provide the parties with clarification of reasons for her judgment as permissibly requested by them.
The case also raises issues in relation to:
- Pleading a care application threshold statement;
- The common law special measures which may be available for evidence from a ‘child’ – as she was at the time of the hearing – who is as disturbed as was T;
- Children Act 1989 s 20 (T was accommodated by the local authority having already been adopted) for nearly two years;
- European Convention 1950 Arts 6.1 (for all individuals involved) and 6.3 (perhaps for the father; as...
Read the full article here.
