Key Facts
- •Local authority application under Part 19 FPR 2010 to avoid notifying paternal and maternal family about 5-month-old X.
- •Mother relinquished X at birth due to inability to care and fear of father's reaction.
- •Mother and Children's Guardian support the application.
- •Father unaware of X's birth; has a volatile and abusive history with the mother.
- •Father has a history of abusive behavior towards previous partners and children, involving police intervention.
- •Mother recently obtained a non-molestation order against the father.
- •Potential adoptive placements exist for X with adopters of his half-siblings.
- •Application was not initially flagged as urgent, causing a six-week delay.
Legal Principles
Balancing exercise of rights and interests of all concerned, focusing on child's welfare but not paramount.
A, B and C (Adoption: Notification of Fathers and Relatives) [2020] EWCA Civ 41
Urgency in applications to avoid delay in child's permanent placement.
A, B and C (Adoption: Notification of Fathers and Relatives) [2020] EWCA Civ 41
Consideration of Article 8 rights (right to family life) of father, child, and mother.
A, B and C (Adoption: Notification of Fathers and Relatives) [2020] EWCA Civ 41
Outcomes
Application granted; local authority not required to notify father or wider family.
Balancing the father's and family's Article 8 rights with X's welfare and the mother's safety, considering the father's history of abuse, lack of parental responsibility for X, and the unlikelihood of a suitable family placement. The risk of harm to the mother and siblings outweighed any potential benefits to X.