C (Article 8 Order: Article 10(2): Grandparents Application for Leave)

[1] The judgment in this matter is being distributed on the strict understanding that in any report no person other than the advocates or the solicitors instructing them (and any other person identified by name in the judgment itself) may be identified by name or location and in particular the anonymity of the child and the adult members of his family must be strictly preserved as such.

[2] In this matter, P, the grandfather of C a child born on the 18 of May 2002, seeks an order from the court pursuant to Article 8 of the Children (NI) Order 1995 ("the 1995 Order") that he may have a contact order in relation to C. Article 10 of the 1995 Order makes a division between those who have an automatic right to apply for an order under Article 8 and those who require the leave of the court to make such an application. A grandparent does not fall within the former category and accordingly in this instance P seeks the leave of the court to make such an application.

(1) In Re M (Care: Contact: Grandmother's application for leave) (1995) 2 FLR 86, the Court of Appeal held that in weighing up the factors the following tests should be applied:

- If the application is frivolous, vexatious or an abuse of process, it must fail;

- If the applicant fails to disclose that there is any eventual real prospect of success, or the prospect is so remote as to make the application unsustainable, the application for leave should be dismissed;