Attachment

Attachment is a technical psychological term with a specific meaning, but it is used an awful lot in care proceedings and other cases about children, including by people who are not psychologists. It doesn’t help that attachment has a meaning in everyday...

Section 20 Agreements

Section 20 of the Children Act 1989 is about the local authority’s duty to provide accommodation for any child in need in their area who needs somewhere to live because there isn’t anyone who has parental responsibility for him or the person who has been caring...

Cafcass

‘Children and Families Court Advisory and Support Service’  gives us the acronym ‘Cafcass’. The function of Cafcass is to advise the court about what is in the best interests of the child whom it represents in family proceedings. The principal functions of...

Proportionality

  ‘Proportionality’ is the key concept to understanding how family law operates. This comes from Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR). The ECHR has been given ‘direct effect’ into domestic law by the Human Rights...

Care and Supervision Orders

Care and Supervision orders were created by Part IV of the Children Act 1989. On the application of the local authority (LA) or the NSPCC the court can consider making either order if the provisions of section 31 are made out. This requires the judge to be satisfied...