Munby warns of increase in radicalisation cases in family courts

Guidance issued by president of the Family Division Sir James Munby has revealed there have been at least eight cases involving more than 20 children so far this year.

Munby said most cases have involved the local authority initiating proceedings but has now called on police to begin making applications where they have concerns.

“There is no reason why, in a case where it seems to the police to be necessary to do so, the police should not start proceedings for the purposes, for example, of making a child a ward of court, obtaining an injunction to prevent the child travelling abroad, obtaining a passport order [or other orders],” the guidance states.

The guidance also states that, in light of the complexity of cases involving allegations or suspicions that children, with their parents or on their own, are planning or attempting to travel to parts of Syria controlled by Islamic State, they should all be heard by High Court judges of the Family Division.

In some of the cases children have been placed in foster care. In other cases children have been made wards of court.

In the guidance Munby stresses the importance that all safeguarding agencies involved in cases adopt a “co-ordinated strategy, predicated on open and respectful co-operation”.

He said there is a need for “open dialogue, appropriate sharing of information, mutual respect for the differing roles involved and inter-agency co-operation if children in such cases are to be provided with the kind of protection they require.

The guidance also calls on police and other agencies to recognise that the interest of the child is paramount in the process.

“This cannot be eclipsed by wider considerations of counter-terrorism policy or operations.”