Missed opportunity to give children a voice: Re D (A Child) [2016] UKSC 34

Fiona O'Sullivan Consultant Weightmans LLP

Family lawyers’ hopes to receive guidance from the Supreme Court on the fundamental principle of a child’s right to be heard in family cases were dashed when the Supreme Court unanimously dismissed a father’s appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal Re D (A Child) (International Recognition) [2016] EWCA Civ 12.

In Re  D (A Child) [2016] UKSC 34 the Supreme Court ruled unanimously on 22 June that it did not have jurisdiction to hear the appeal because appeals in England and Wales under the provisions of Brussels II (Revised) Regulation (Brussels IIa) may be bought only by a single further appeal on a point of law to the Court of Appeal.

The case concerned a child (D) born in 2006 in Romania to Romanian parents who met while working in England.  The parents separated in 2007 and D has lived in England since then in the care of his mother. The father returned to Romania in 2009 but maintained a relationship with his son. The parents agreed that the Romanian court had jurisdiction and after considerable delays the Bucharest...

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