H, Re

THE FAMILY COURT Sitting at MIDDLESBROUGH Russell Street Middlesbrough TS1 2AE 14th August 2014 B e f o r e :

'In the absence of legal aid to secure representation of the mother, it is inevitable that her article 6 and her article 8 ECHR rights will be at risk of being violated, given her evident speech, hearing and learning difficulties, if the case proceeds without further representation.'

That could not have been a clearer indication of the judge's opinion and consideration of this matter and therefore he also said that:

'On its facts and having regard to the surrounding circumstances and, in particular, the recent party status of Middlesbrough local authority, the criteria for assessing an exceptional grant of legal aid are likely to be made out.'

He went further and said that the local authority involvement in the current proceedings is based largely on public law and child protection issues relating to the respondent mother's fifth child, subject to public law proceedings which concluded in 2014, resulting in both care and placement orders. He said there is considerable similarity and overlap in the issues which present in both sets of proceedings. That part of the preamble continues with: