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25 September 2008
Issue: 7338 / Categories: Features , Child law , Family
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Under placement orders

Dorothea Gartland considers the impact of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 on placement orders

The decision of the Court of Appeal in Re B (children) [2008] EWCA Civ 835, [2008] All ER (D) 228 (Jul) offers advice and guidance to local authorities in respect of placement order applications. In this case the parents appealed against care orders made in respect of their children and a placement order in respect of the youngest child.

The local authority's adoption panel had met and considered the case of the youngest child but without having read the reports of two experts instructed in the case, a psychologist and child and adolescent psychiatrist. The local authority's director of social services endorsed the panel's decision the day after the panel and the local authority applied straight away for a placement order in respect of the youngest child. The parents sought an adjournment of the final hearing to enable the panel to reconsider the case having had sight of the experts' reports. The judge refused this application and made care orders and

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NEWS
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
Recent allegations surrounding Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor have reignited scrutiny of the ancient common law offence of misconduct in public office. Writing in NLJ this week, Simon Parsons, teaching fellow at Bath Spa University, asks whether their conduct could clear a notoriously high legal hurdle
A landmark ruling has reshaped child clinical negligence claims. Writing in NLJ this week, Jodi Newton, head of birth and paediatric negligence at Osbornes Law, explains how the Supreme Court in CCC v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2026] UKSC 5 has overturned Croke v Wiseman, ending the long-standing bar on children recovering ‘lost years’ earnings
A Court of Appeal ruling has drawn a firm line under party autonomy in arbitration. Writing in NLJ this week, Masood Ahmed, associate professor at the University of Leicester, analyses Gluck v Endzweig [2026] EWCA Civ 145, where a clause allowing arbitrators to amend an award ‘at any time’ was held incompatible with the Arbitration Act 1996
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