Legal Updates

The case of R (on the application of J and another) v West Sussex County Council (22 May, 2002) concerned a divorced mother who had a daughter and four grandchildren, aged eleven and under.

She began a relationship with a man, who had been convicted of indecent assault on his stepdaughter and imprisoned for three and a half years. He maintained his innocence, and had not received treatment. In August 2001, a social worker visited them and asked the mother to inform her daughter about the conviction, and advised her that if she did not do so, then the social services department would contact the daughter directly.

The couple claimed that such disclosure would be in breach of article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The authority responded that in light of the seriousness of the offence, the fact that the second claimant continued to deny the offence and the degree of risk involved, there was a pressing need to disclose the information.

On judicial review of the local authority decision the application was dismissed.

The court held that the social services department had carried out a balancing exercise and had determined that the man was a potential risk. They had been entitled to rely on the man's conviction, the fact that neither he, nor the mother accepted that he had committed the offence; the fact that there was no reassurance that he would take steps to prevent any potential risk, the age of the children and the fact that the man was an untreated offender. It was plain that the department had not adopted a blanket approach, but had carefully considered the matter on its own facts and applied the appropriate test.

For cases in the law reports see also Re EC (disclosure of material) [1996] 3 FCR 556, Re V and Re L (minors)(sexual abuse: disclosure) [1999] 1 FCR 308, R v Local Authority and Police Authority in the Midlands, ex p LM [2000] 1 FLR 612 and R v North Wales Police, ex p Thorpe [1998] 2 FLR 571.

Richard White

White and Sherwin Solicitors