Threshold findings and the criminal standard

Nick Brown, St Philips Chambers, Birmingham

Mother v Local Authority and others [2023] EWFC 137 (also known as Re Z (Care Proceedings: Reopening of Fact Finding)) is authority for a number of propositions relating to the standard of proof in care proceedings: (1) making threshold findings to the criminal standard is inconsistent with Court of Appeal decisions deprecating the importation of criminal concepts; (2) no matter how sure judges are of their threshold findings, they should not express themselves as being satisfied on the criminal standard; (3) threshold findings apparently made on the criminal standard do not import a higher hurdle for any subsequent application to reopen; (4) threshold findings apparently made on the criminal standard should be read as having been made according to the applicable civil standard. This article aims to analyse the various bases for these propositions and why they can each be regarded as good law.

The full article has published in the December issue of Family Law. 

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Read the full article here.