Court Report: Child welfare over parental rights

This is the first family case heard in the newly established Supreme Court. A three-year-old boy (H), whose parents were separated before his birth, lived continuously with his maternal grandmother, who obtained a residence order in 2006. The father had contact, and in 2008 the father applied for a contact order. He had by then married and his new wife was expecting their child. The Family Proceedings Court found that H should remain with his grandmother, on the basis of the stability and security of care that H had enjoyed with her.

On appeal, the Court of Appeal overruled the decision of the Family Proceedings Court and found that the court had been "distracted by their consideration of the settled way in which H has been brought up", and had placed too little emphasis on the role of his father in H's life and care. The Court of Appeal held that although a child's welfare was the court's paramount consideration, the court should always bear in mind that, ordinarily, the rearing of a child by his biological parent could be expected to be in his best interests.