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Re J (A Minor: Revocation of Adoption Order)
2017 · England and Wales
A mother applied for permission to oppose an application to adopt her child. At an initial directions hearing, the judge refused that permission but also went on to make the adoption order itself. The local authority recognised the error immediately. The judge attempted to undo it, and the matter was referred to the High Court for correction.
Re J (Adoption: Appeal)
2018 · England and Wales
A birth father challenged a stepparent adoption obtained through deception about his identity. The inaccurate account had kept him out of the process and prevented proper consideration of the child's paternal family relationships. He sought permission to appeal even though the normal deadline had passed.
Re J (Care Plan for Adoption)
2024 · England and Wales
A court was asked to make a final care order on a plan that proposed adoption, although the placement application was not yet before it. The judge treated this as a reason not to apply the adoption welfare framework or decide whether the interference with family relationships was proportionate. The mother challenged that approach.
Re K (A Child: Post Adoption Placement Breakdown); Re E (Wardship)
2012 · England and Wales
An adopted teenager entered local authority accommodation after difficulties in her adoptive home. The proceedings examined information provided before adoption, support and therapy, and serious problems in the authority’s handling of her care. Later proceedings also concerned her adoptive parents’ wish to discuss the case publicly.
Re K (Adoption and Wardship)
1997 · England and Wales
An English adoption case concerning a child from Bosnia went ahead without the child's extended family and state appointed guardian being properly notified. The resulting challenge concerned who had been excluded from the process and whether the adoption had been decided fairly. The case is recorded here through the Supreme Court's later account of it.
Re K (Children: Placement Orders)
2020 · England and Wales
Three young siblings were made subject to care and placement orders after prolonged proceedings involving parental deception, concealment and breaches of court orders. The parents challenged the decision to pursue adoption. The appeal concerned whether the judge had adequately connected their conduct with the actual risks to the children and weighed those risks against the other consequences of adoption.
Re M (Minors) (Adoption)
1991 · England and Wales
A father consented to his children's adoption by their stepfather without knowing that their mother was terminally ill. After her death, he sought to challenge the adoption orders. The issue was whether consent given without that crucial information could support the orders. The database relies on the Supreme Court's later account of the case.
Re N (Children: Revocation of Placement Orders)
2023 · England and Wales
A mother sought to revoke placement orders for two children following changes in her circumstances. She had permission to make the application, but the court refused revocation and declined to order a further independent social work assessment. She appealed those decisions, raising questions about the evidence and the approach to reconsidering the children’s future.
Re N (Children)
2016 · England and Wales
English care proceedings involving children of Hungarian parents raised the question of whether the case should be transferred to Hungary. The dispute concerned which country's court should decide the children's future, including the practical consequences for relationships and possible care arrangements if the proceedings moved.
Re N (Refusal of Placement Order)
2023 · England and Wales
The judgment records that the children’s mother entered care aged two, was adopted aged six and was adopted again after the first adoption broke down. Her second adoptive mother physically and emotionally abused her. These experiences informed her opposition to adoption for her own children.