(Queen's Bench Division; Cranston J; 30 September 2008)

The father had failed to pay the Child Support Agency's maintenance assessments and the Agency had failed to enforce maintenance. The children's damages claim against the Agency was struck out; the children appealed, arguing that the Agency's maladministration had violated their right to respect for private and family life under European Convention on Human Rights, Art 8.

The statutory child support scheme was Convention compliant and, given that judicial review was possible, a claimant could not contend that Art 8 had been infringed by maladministration on the Agency's part. The right to respect for private and family life did not include an economic right to maintenance.