H-W (Children) (No 2): a question of proportionality or is it?

Katie Phillips Barrister 42 Bedford Row

Providing a review of the Supreme Court decision of H-W (Children) [2022] UKSC 17 this article aims to examine whether the decision takes the question of proportionality and its application further than previous authorities have. The reader is taken by the Supreme Court on a gentle stroll through the existing authorities and given welcome clarity as to the application of necessity and proportionality to cases where final care orders are contemplated. This article ventures to suggest that the decision has wider application in the effective administration of family justice as the rigour of analysis required in any such decision with such wide-reaching consequences is hammered home by the Supreme Court. This decision is required reading for any family lawyer or judge dealing with public law children cases and contemplating the difficult balance that those cases often strike. Through discussion this article considers what lessons can be learned and what the clear message is for the future.

The full article will be published in the November issue of Family Law. 

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