High Court of Justice (England and Wales), Family Division

High Court of Justice (England and Wales), Family Division

United Kingdom - England and Wales

12 April 2024

Leicester City Council v M and A

[2024] EWHC 923 (Fam)

First instance

Article 33

Not provided

Children and Families Act 2014, Family Procedure Rules 2010

Not provided

Care proceedings concerning a seven-month-old child whose maternal aunt, resident in Switzerland, had been identified as the only family member with a positive initial viability assessment as a potential long-term carer. The local authority initially sought to arrange a full kinship assessment through Children and Families Across Borders, but difficulties arose because the Swiss authorities maintained that a legally effective assessment could only be undertaken through the competent Swiss authorities pursuant to the 1996 Hague Convention. An Article 33 process was consequently pursued through the Central Authorities. The Swiss authorities advised that the assessment would be undertaken by the competent cantonal authority and could take six to nine months, with uncertainty as to when it would commence. The court held that this timescale was incompatible with the needs of the very young child. Although discontinuing the assessment removed the possibility of placement with the maternal aunt and carried significant cultural and family disadvantages, the likely delay outweighed those considerations. The direction for assessment was therefore discharged so that the proceedings could progress promptly towards a permanent placement..

The court discharged the direction for assessment of the child's maternal aunt in Switzerland as a potential long-term carer. Although an assessment through the Swiss authorities under the 1996 Hague Convention had been pursued, the anticipated delay of at least nine months was incompatible with the needs of the seven-month-old child. The court held that it was in the child's best interests for the care proceedings to proceed expeditiously towards final orders.