In this issue we revisit the seminal 2012 High Court judgment concerning A and S – two brothers whose human rights were gravely violated while they were in local authority care. The High Court found that because of numerous, protracted failings by the local authority, as well as repeated failure by the boys’ independent reviewing … Read more
Alongside other children’s rights and social work organisations, Article 39 is urging Peers to reject clauses in the Illegal Migration Bill which give the Home Office unprecedented powers to take desperately vulnerable children out of the child welfare system. The Illegal Migration Bill reaches Report Stage in the House of Lords this afternoon (28 June). … Read more
A senior family court judge, Mrs Justice Lieven, has today (9 June) ruled that unaccompanied children housed in Home Office-run hotels are likely to be children in need and are therefore entitled to the full protection of the Children Act 1989 (judgment here). Rejecting the proposition that there is a lacuna in protection, Mrs Justice … Read more
A debate is to be held in Parliament today (7 June) on the Home Office’s accommodation of unaccompanied children in hotels, led by Scottish National Party MP Deirdre Brock. With the agreement of the Department for Education, the Home Office began housing unaccompanied children in hotels in July 2021. The Children Act 1989 unequivocally places … Read more