Judges are not perfect and when a judge recently considered a child placement order, there were inadequacies in the judgment. The judge had not stated correctly the test for the criteria to be considered when making a placement order.
On the basis of the inadequacies in the judgment, the children’s father and mother appealed against the judge’s verdict, which supported the local authority’s decision to place their two children with foster parents with a view to adoption proceedings.
The appeal against the decision failed. In the view of the Court of Appeal, there was no dispute over the facts of the case and the technical inadequacies in the original judgment did not mean that there was any realistic alternative decision that could be made that would be in the best interests of the children.
Partner Note
Re S and H (Children) – Court of Appeal (Civ) 10 September 2010.
Reported in the Solicitors Journal, 21 September 2010, pp 29-30.