RW v SW

This is an application by Mr. RW (whom I will for the purposes of this judgment call “the father”) for permission to appeal against an order made in the Principal Registry of the Family Division (the “PRFD”) by His Honour Judge Horowitz QC on 18 December 2009.

The father seeks this court’s permission to appeal on a variety of grounds. In essence, however, he submits that the “softly softly” approach advocated by Mr. Vobe and embraced by the judge was plainly wrong and likely to lead to the termination of all contact between him and T rather than its expansion. He argues that the court was given, but ignored, a simple and more constructive alternative (his own proposals) which would have taken contact forward rather then bringing it to a close. He also argues that the judge erred in the exercise of his discretion in making the order set out above.

In relation to the order under section 91(14) of the Act, the father argues that the conditions for such an order were not met, either substantively or procedurally. He further submits that the judge “unwittingly” but directly overruled the report by Dr. Berelowits (a well known child and adolescent psychiatrist who had advised at an earlier stage in the case) and submits that the time has come to replace the NYAS guardian who, he argues, has failed properly to fulfil his court appointed role.

All these issues are forcefully and intelligently expanded upon by the father in his skeleton argument and in the documents he placed before the judge.

When I heard the application orally in March 2010, I had not had the opportunity to read the papers fully. I therefore decided that the fairest course was to hear the father and to reserve judgment. In the event, the effect of what the father said to me was that his case had been fully set out in writing. I accordingly took the papers away with me and have now read them all thoroughly, some of them several times. I apologise to the father that due to events including the intervention of Easter and the pressure of other work, it has not been possible for me to give judgment before today.