Children Act 1989

สรุป

The Children Act 1989 is the foundational statute for child law in England & Wales. It introduced the welfare principle (the child's welfare is the court's paramount consideration), the welfare checklist, parental responsibility, and a range of court orders (including child arrangements orders, specific issue orders, and prohibited steps orders). It also established the framework for local authority involvement in child protection, including care orders and supervision orders. The Act promotes the principle that children are best raised by their families wherever possible.

ประเด็นสำคัญ

• Child's welfare is the court's paramount consideration (s.1(1))
• Welfare checklist: wishes/feelings of the child, physical/emotional needs, likely effect of change, age/sex/background, harm suffered or at risk of, capability of parents, range of powers available (s.1(3))
• No order principle: court should not make an order unless doing so would be better for the child than making no order at all (s.1(5))
• Parental responsibility: defined as all rights, duties, powers, responsibilities, and authority of a parent (s.3)
• Section 8 orders: child arrangements orders, prohibited steps orders, specific issue orders
• Care orders and supervision orders (Part IV)
• Local authority duties to children in need (s.17) and child protection (s.47)

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