R (on the application of A) v Croydon London Borough Council; R (on the application of M) v Lambeth London Borough Council [2009] UKSC 8; [2009] All ER (D) 288 (Nov)
Supreme Court, Lord Hope DP, Lord Scott, Lord Walker, Lady Hale SCJJ and Lord Neuberger, 26 November 2009
The word “child”, in the Children Act 1989 (CA 1989), is defined in wholly objective terms, and the question of whether a person is a “child” is a question for the court rather than for other kinds of decision makers, to be determined on the evidence available.
John Howell QC and Ian Wise (instructed by Hartner and Loveless Solicitors) for A. Timothy Straker QC and Christopher Buttler (instructed by Bennett Wilkins Solicitors) for M. Nigel Giffin QC, Bryan McGuire and Peggy Etiebet (instructed by Democratic and Legal Services Division) for Croydon.
Charles Bear QC and Jon Holbrook (instructed by Sternberg Reed) for Lambeth. Nathalie Lieven QC and Deok Joo Rhee (instructed by the Treasury Solicitors) for the Secretary of State. Richard Drabble QC and Ranjiv Khubbler intervening in writing for the Children’s Commissioner.
The appeal before
