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Care and Supervision Proceedings
The local authority may apply for a care order, which allows the local authority to share parental responsibility with a parent and usually involves the removal of the child from the home and placement either within the family or with foster carers. A care order can only be made where the court is satisfied that the child is suffering, is at risk of suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm as a result of the way the parents are caring for the child or because the child is beyond parental control. Once these criteria are established the court must place the child’s welfare first and where appropriate take into account the views and feelings of the child.
There is a general obligation on the court to consider whether other orders or indeed no order is more appropriate than a care order which is still viewed as quite a draconian measure. In particular the court should consider whether the child would be adequately protected by the making of a supervision order, which allows the local authority to monitor the child’s needs and progress while the child lives at home or elsewhere. Similarly the court should consider whether a residence order could be made to a relative which allows the child to be brought up within the extended family. In any case the court is also required to consider what arrangements have been made for contact between the child and his or her family.
Following the introduction of the HRA the courts are required to ensure that decisions about care orders take into account the rights of parents under Article 6 of the ECHR – the right to a fair hearing. Consequently, parents are entitled to be consulted at all stages of the decision making process and in general should be entitled to legal representation in proceedings unless they choose not to participate. ECtHR decisions make it clear that parents and children continue to enjoy a family life together whether they are living together or separately and also impose a general obligation on the state when it intervenes in the life of the family to have reunification as an urgent and consistent goal.
There is a general obligation on the court to consider whether other orders or indeed no order is more appropriate than a care order which is still viewed as quite a draconian measure. In particular the court should consider whether the child would be adequately protected by the making of a supervision order, which allows the local authority to monitor the child’s needs and progress while the child lives at home or elsewhere. Similarly the court should consider whether a residence order could be made to a relative which allows the child to be brought up within the extended family. In any case the court is also required to consider what arrangements have been made for contact between the child and his or her family.
Following the introduction of the HRA the courts are required to ensure that decisions about care orders take into account the rights of parents under Article 6 of the ECHR – the right to a fair hearing. Consequently, parents are entitled to be consulted at all stages of the decision making process and in general should be entitled to legal representation in proceedings unless they choose not to participate. ECtHR decisions make it clear that parents and children continue to enjoy a family life together whether they are living together or separately and also impose a general obligation on the state when it intervenes in the life of the family to have reunification as an urgent and consistent goal.
