Use The Right Remedy To A Care Order!

The Supreme Court dismissed a father's writ of habeas corpus after he challenged a care order over his children.

Background:

The children, aged 11 and 9, were placed under a care order by DJ Solomon in the Family Court on 9 June 2023 under Section 31 of the Children Act (CA) 1989. The parents are not married and do not live together. On 21 August 2019, pursuant to Section 8 of the CA 1989, the Family Court made a child arrangement order (CAO) under which the children were to live with the father with supervised contact with the mother. On 28 October 2022, care proceedings were commenced under Section 31 of Part IV of the CA 1989 which both the father and the mother opposed. The children expressed their wishes to live with their father. However, DJ Solomon in the Family Court found that the threshold in Section 31(2) of the CA 1989 had been crossed based on the history of domestic violence, the father's criminal history, and his habitual drug and alcohol abuse.