W (Children) / Webster v Norfolk County Council
[2009] EWCA Civ 59 · Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
What happened: The Webster parents sought permission to challenge adoption orders after the usual appeal deadline. Later medical evidence had cast substantial doubt on findings that a child's injuries had been deliberately inflicted. Those earlier findings had helped set in motion proceedings that ended in adoption. The parents wanted the court to reopen the decisions in light of the changed understanding of the evidence.
What the court decided: The Court of Appeal refused permission for the late challenge. It treated the adoption orders as having been lawfully made and gave decisive weight to their finality, the children's interests and wider considerations about the security of adoption. The later evidence did not result in the adoptions being reversed.
Why it matters to adoptees: An adoptee may discover that the account underlying their separation from family was disputed or later called into question. This case shows why finding that information can be important even when it does not produce a legal route back. It also cautions against assuming that an adoption order proves every earlier allegation was correct. The decision was about allowing a late appeal, rather than a general power to revoke adoption whenever new information emerges.
Considered in a later judgment
X and Y (2026), paragraphs 84–86, distinguishes appellate powers from inherent jurisdiction.
Limitations: This was an application for permission to appeal out of time; it did not decide a general High Court revocation power.
Case details and sources
Adoptee involvement: No direct adoptee position established
Remedy sought: Set aside adoption orders via late appeal
Legal route: Permission to appeal out of time
Judgments in this case
- [2009] EWCA Civ 59 · Court of Appeal · 2009-02-11 · Application for permission to appeal out of time
Sources checked
- X and Y (2026): judgment and discussion of earlier cases (opens in a new tab)
paragraphs 84–86 · Later judgment
Review scope: Existing database extraction checked against the discussion in X and Y (2026). Original judgment not freshly reviewed; later treatment check is limited to the linked judgments.
Human verification pending. Entry: CASE-0003.