Following today’s news we have summarised the 5 things to be aware of if court cases involving children were already underway before the new legislation came into force.
- Existing residence and contact orders are now deemed to be Child Arrangements Orders
- Pending Residence/Contact proceedings already before the court are now automatically deemed to be Child Arrangement Order proceedings
- The mediation information and assessment meeting (MIAM) requirements which mean that a court case cannot be started until after mediation has been properly considered will not apply to cases that were received at court before the 22nd, even if they are not actually issued by the court until afterwards
- Where care proceedings are underway and are already timetabled to conclusion, then the new rule stating that proceedings must start and finish within will apply as if the 26 weeks expired on the conclusion date in the current court timetable. (In other words, the court will only need to consider extending the timescale if the case is not concluded in accordance with the timetable). Existing ICO (Interim Care Orders)/ISOs (Interim Supervision Orders) will expire in accordance with the old rules (ie 8 or 4 weeks) but will then be renewed under the new rules (ie flexible duration)
- The new rules which reduce the level of scrutiny of local authority care plans only apply to proceedings issued after 22 April.
The provisions on post-adoption contact do not apply to any existing proceedings.
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