In a recent decision of the High Court, in a case of LH v RJ, Ms Justice Jackson set out a number of important statements relating to the status of Section 47/32 reports. A Section 47 report emanates from the Family Law Act 1995 whereas a Section 32 report is a product of the Family Law Child and Relationships Act 2015, and is commonly known as a ‘Voice of the Child’ report.
In her decision, Judge Jackson referred to the statement of Denham J in McD v L in 2009, where she had held that the lower court had erred in finding that the s.47 report ‘should be given great weight and that it should be accepted as a mandatory matter save for grave reasons’. Ms Justice Denham made it very clear that the Court must consider all circumstances and evidence and that a s.47 report is only part of the evidence, and that the decision of the Court must be in the best interests of the child and the most important factor which the Court has to consider is the welfare of the child/children in question.
In her decision Judge Jackson said that these principles must also apply to section 32 reports. Judge Jackson also referred to a decision of Judge Abbott in the case of AB v CD where he also addressed the status of a section 47 assessor. In his decision, he made it clear that such an assessor was not the Court’s witness, and that it was available for either of the parties or the Court to interrogate the assessor as to his or her conclusions/recommendations.
Mr Justice Abbott stated that the section 47 assessor did not have a status that was greater than an expert witness, he made it clear that the court was not bound by the report, and the court had to make a decision to establish what was in the best interests of the children, taking into account their welfare.
This most recent decision of Judge Jackson is further affirmation that an assessor’s recommendation can be challenged, and it is a matter for the Court to make a decision which differs from the recommendations if the Court believes to do so would be in the best interest of the child/children concerned.
For further information on this or any other Family Law related issued, please do not hesitate to contact Brendan Dillon, Emma Dillon or Aoife Cathcart on 012960666
