Child
Re N (a child) (instruction of expert) [2022] EWCA Civ 1588, [2022] All ER (D) 24 (Dec)
The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, dismissed the appellant’s appeal against a case management order under the Children Act 1989 (ChA 1989) relating to a boy, A, a minor. The order under appeal had permitted the parties to instruct a named independent social worker to carry out an assessment to assist the court to determine issues relating to child arrangements and education. The expert named in the order was a woman. The appellant father had proposed that the assessment should be carried out by a male social worker. He had argued that the order which had permitted the instruction of a female social worker was an infringement of his right to a fair hearing under art 6 and his right to manifest his religious beliefs under art 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The court held, among other things, that the judge was fully entitled to reject the father’s human rights arguments. The decision to appoint the expert was consistent
