A City Council v A Mother & Ors

Four members of 4PB appeared in A City Council v A Mother & Ors [2019] EWHC 3076 (Fam) . Cyrus Larizadeh QC & Chris Barnes appeared on behalf of the Second Respondent and Brian Jubb and Mani Singh Basi appeared on behalf of the Fourth Respondent.

This matter was before Mrs Justice Knowles DBE and follows the earlier judgment in Re Q (Interim Care Order: Jurisdiction) [2019] EWHC 512 (Fam) where it was determined that there was no jurisdiction to make an interim public law order or a final order once a young person had reached the age of 17.  Ms Justice Knowles in Re Q shared ‘the view that there might in a category of limited cases, be utility or benefit to Section 31 proceedings remaining ongoing even if the court had no jurisdiction to make either interim, or final public law orders’ (paragraph 2).

In A City Council v A Mother & Ors [2019] EWHC 3076 (Fam), Ms Justice Knowles concludes at paragraph 43: ‘this conclusion to the Section 31 proceedings, relating to Q, demonstrates why, in some cases, public law proceedings might properly continue, even though a child has reached the age of 17, and may no longer in law be made subject to a public law order’.

The judgment can be read in full here.