Case
Re C (A Child)
Citation
[2013] EWCA Civ 1257
Date
18.10.2013
Comment
J was born in October 2011. A residential assessment was undertaken between April and July 2012 but in July 2012 the local authority sought and was granted an ICO with a care plan of removal to foster care.
At the final hearing, EB, a maternal grandparent of J, intervened in the proceedings and applied for am SGO. The local authority (supported by the Guardian) sought care and placement orders.
EB was registered blind and whilst born as a male had undergone gender reassignment beginning in March 2007 and ending in 2009. EB had been positively assessed by an independent social worker.
Finding that the threshold criteria were met and that the mother was not in a position to care for J, the judge also rejected EB’s application. EB appealed on the grounds that the court had failed to conduct a balancing exercise in which the pros and cons of a placement with EB were evaluated against the pros and cons of adoption and the judge had not addressed the proportionality of an adoption order and given reasons as to why “nothing else would do”.
Barristers involved