Re B (A Child) (Care Proceedings: Threshold Criteria)
A care order with a plan for adoption should be made only where it is necessary and proportionate, as a last resort, when nothing else will do.
Facts
Amelia was the daughter of parents with a history of criminality and dishonesty. The mother had a somatisation disorder and a history of fabricating illness, and the father had a history of deception. The judge found that the threshold was crossed because Amelia was likely to suffer significant emotional harm in the future if she lived with her parents, although she had not yet suffered harm, and made a care order with a plan for adoption. The parents appealed.
Legal principle
The Supreme Court dismissed the parents' appeal, Lady Hale dissenting. The court held that the threshold was satisfied, and that the judge had been entitled to find that Amelia was likely to suffer significant harm. The court said that a care order leading to adoption is a very extreme thing, a last resort, and that it should be made only when it is necessary and proportionate, which means only in exceptional circumstances where nothing else will do. Lord Neuberger said that an appellate court should not interfere with the trial judge's assessment of proportionality unless it was wrong. The decision led to significant changes in practice.
Related cases on care proceedings and adoption
- Re A (A Child) [2015] EWFC 11, [2016] 1 FLR 1
- Re B (Children) (Care Proceedings: Standard of Proof) [2008] UKHL 35, [2009] 1 AC 11
- Re B-S (Children) [2013] EWCA Civ 1146, [2014] 1 WLR 563
- Re G (A Child) (Interim Care Order: Residential Assessment) [2005] UKHL 68, [2006] 1 AC 576
- Re H (Minors) (Sexual Abuse: Standard of Proof) [1996] AC 563
- Re J (Children) (Care Proceedings: Threshold Criteria) [2013] UKSC 9, [2013] 1 AC 680
- Re L (Care: Threshold Criteria) [2007] 1 FLR 2050
- Lancashire County Council v B [2000] 2 AC 147
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