Annual Report 2006-2007 - Cafcass

More documents

Recommendations

Info

The work of Cafcass Legal Cafcass has a team of five lawyers, led by a Head of Legal Services, who undertake a range of roles. High Court children’s cases Cafcass lawyers undertake the legal conduct of specialist children cases such as wardship, medical treatment and other inherent jurisdiction cases, particularly complex cases under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act and international jurisdiction disputes. They also support the work of our FCAs in the Cafcass High Court team, who work on the categories of cases listed above. Cafcass Legal also operates a highly valued and well-regarded advice line for all our FCAs, the judiciary and children law professionals, and provides a 24-hour advice and representation service for out-of-hours emergency children cases. Guardian needs a lawyer. The welfare of the child is the most important issue. Corporate support The Head of Legal Services provides legal advice to the Cafcass Board and the lawyers advise the senior management team. In addition, the lawyers handle civil litigation by or against Cafcass, and advise on policy and contract matters. Training work In the 2006–07 training year, Cafcass lawyers arranged to give 114 days’ training for Cafcass practitioners around the country, including roadshows highlighting domestic violence issues, and provided legal input into workshops focusing on the development of our My Needs, Wishes and Feelings pack. Advocate to the Court cases Lawyers from Cafcass Legal act as Advocate to the Court when invited to do so by the Family Division of the High Court. This involves researching legal issues and advising the court on novel or contentious areas of law. Separate representation for practitioners The Cafcass lawyers provide separate legal representation to Guardians in proceedings where the Guardian and the child are in conflict over what is in the child’s best interests and the child is competent to instruct his or her solicitor directly. The lawyers will respond either by attending court themselves, sometimes instructing counsel if necessary, or authorising funding for a Cafcass practitioner to be represented by a solicitor in private practice. Separate representation is not automatic, even if the court has given permission, but will be provided if, for example, there is a legal issue in the case on which the 10 | Cafcass Annual Report and Accounts 2006–07
case study Cafcass Legal and the High Court team: Baby A and Baby B A British Asian couple had entered into a surrogacy agreement with the assistance of an agency that introduces potential surrogate mothers to couples who are seeking to become parents. The surrogate mother was a white, single woman, who was implanted with two eggs from the commissioning woman, fertilised with the sperm of the commissioning man. At an early stage in the pregnancy, however, the surrogate mother changed her mind about handing the twin babies over to their genetic parents. The case reached the High Court and involved a Guardian and a Cafcass lawyer. The commissioning couple was not told of the babies’ date of birth or the names they had been given, but they applied to the court for a residence order. Under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act, a surrogate mother is automatically the “mother” of the babies for all legal purposes, even though she has no genetic link with them, and a commissioning man whose sperm has fertilised the egg is automatically the legal “father”. The commissioning father and his wife asked the court to give them the two new born babies and remove them from the surrogate mother. Two expert witnesses were instructed to assist the court with the cultural issues surrounding these children, who were of Asian origin but with a white mother, and to assess the impact on them of the circumstances of their birth. The Guardian carried out a very delicate exercise in completing her enquiries, as all three parties were very emotionally involved. The Guardian’s conclusion, supported by the experts’ advice, was that the twins should reside with their genetic parents. The case came before a High Court judge. As a dramatic conclusion, on the second day of the hearing the surrogate mother decided to give up the children and not seek to maintain any contact with them. The two babies were delivered to the home of the commissioning couple within a few hours. Section 1: Management Commentary | 11
Page 1: Annual Report and Accounts Children
Page 4 and 5: Our purpose Cafcass has a statutory
Page 6 and 7: Overview by the Chair Chairing a no
Page 8 and 9: Section 1: Management Commentary Se
Page 10 and 11: Private law Our approach to working
Page 12: case study Managing our resources:
Page 17 and 18: Transforming services and modernisi
Page 19 and 20: case study North East Children’s
Page 21 and 22: Diversity conference We held a nati
Page 23 and 24: staff easy access to their collecti
Page 25 and 26: Family Justice Councils Cafcass con
Page 27 and 28: “This excellent practice guidance
Page 29 and 30: This year we also produced three DV
Page 31 and 32: Diversity Our workforce is ageing,
Page 33 and 34: upgrade will be completed by the en
Page 35 and 36: KPI 2 - At least 98% of all public
Page 37 and 38: KPI 5 -The percentage of Section 8s
Page 39 and 40: Section 1: Management Commentary |
Page 41 and 42: The Parliamentary and Health Servic
Page 43 and 44: Members of the Board at an open Boa
Page 45 and 46: Section 4: Statement on Internal Co
Page 47 and 48: and advice on best practice. The co
Page 49 and 50: Board members’ remuneration (audi
Page 51 and 52: Section 6: Accounts 2006-07 Section
Page 53 and 54: Additional meetings between the tra
Page 55 and 56: the Secretary of State for Educatio
Page 57 and 58: Balance Sheet as at 31st March 2007
Page 59 and 60: Expected useful lives are as follow
Page 61 and 62: The total staff cost includes a cos
Page 63 and 64:
7 Tangible fixed assets Freehold la
Page 65 and 66:
13 Analysis of changes in cash 1st
Page 67 and 68:
18b Analysis of capital expenditure
Page 69 and 70:
The FRS17 valuation as at 31st Marc
Page 71:
General contact details We can be c
show all

Annual Report 2006-2007 - Cafcass

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?