Procedure and case management

Public Law Outline

The Public Law Outline is set out in the Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010) at FPR 2010, PD 12A and provides for a tightly managed case management system for proceedings under Part IV of the Children Act 1989 (ChA 1989) including:

•
pre-proceedings checklists
•
advocates’ meetings
•
case management hearings
•
issues resolution hearings, and
•
more standardised disclosure and directions

See Practice Note: Public law children procedure—Public Law Outline.

Online public law children proceedings

Pilot schemes are in place in relation to public law children proceedings that provide for the issue and management of proceedings online via the MyHMCTS portal.

See Practice Note: Online public law children proceedings.

Jurisdictional issues

The habitual residence of a child may be a significant factor in the determination of jurisdiction in children proceedings. Habitual residence is a question of fact and not a legal concept such as domicile—there is no legal rule akin to that whereby a child automatically takes the domicile of their parents. The habitual residence of a child corresponds to the place which reflects

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Cafcass guidance on conflicting assessments in public law cases

The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) has published new guidance for local authorities and Cafcass for cases where the views of the children’s guardian (and therefore their independent advice to the court) and the assessment of a local authority social worker and/or the independent reviewing officer fundamentally differ on the final care plan or interim arrangements for a child. The guidance applies to all children in care and supervision order applications under section 31 of the Children Act 1989 and deprivation of liberty applications. The guidance sets out the process that should be followed at any point during proceedings where a divergence arises and should be completed before final recommendations are submitted to court. The guidance requires that a pre-final hearing meeting be convened to identify and document the points of difference for the court. It includes suggestions for structuring the pre-final hearing meeting, a template agenda and a template for sharing the agreed rationale with the court. The guidance is not intended to be used to agree a joint position, rather to make sure that recommendations to court include a clear explanation about why the children’s guardian, the local authority social worker and/or the independent reviewing officer have reached fundamentally different positions. The explanation must set out what the points of difference are so that the judge in the case can better understand these. It remains for the court to decide what is safe and in the best interests of the child.