Legal Updates

The high court has granted permission (11 September) to a number of children and parents (R (on the application of 'R', Perkins and Keogh) v CAFCASS) to bring a judicial review claim against the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) in relation to delays by the service in providing guardians to children in family proceedings.

Since the establishment of new methods of remunerating guardians instructed in family proceedings, CAFCASS has had difficulty keeping and recruiting guardians for the service. The result has been, despite government guidance and orders by the family proceedings court, delays in appointing guardians at the crucial early hearings in care cases. This has led to interim care orders made without the benefit of information from a guardian on behalf of the children involved.

The families in this case argue that the failure of CAFCASS to provide guardians at an early stage is a breach of their statutory duty and of the children’s human rights under article 6(1) (a right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time) and article 8 (right to respect for family life). The children seek a declaration from the court and damages from CAFCASS.

The Lord Chancellor’s Department (as CAFCASS’s funders) have been served with court papers as an "interested party", and Mr Justice Scott Baker ordered that the case be heard as soon as possible after 1 November 2002.

Comment: The judge was of the view that the problem of the lack of guardians needed to be sorted out as soon as possible. The involvement of the Lord Chancellor’s Department will help to focus attention on what needs to be done to properly fund and organise guardians for very vulnerable children.

Stephen Cragg

Doughty Street Chambers