Re J (Care Plan for Adoption)

Re J (Care Plan for Adoption)

[2024] EWCA Civ 265 · Court of Appeal

What happened: 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.

What the court decided: The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, set aside the final care order and substituted an interim order. It directed that the care and placement applications should be considered before another judge. The court held that deciding on a care plan for adoption already required the relevant scrutiny of adoption, including its lifelong consequences; that examination could not simply be postponed.

Why it matters to adoptees: This case helps explain that decisions leading towards adoption matter before the final adoption hearing. A plan may shape the child’s future and the options that remain available, so the safeguards must apply when the court is making a decision relating to adoption. It gives adoptees a clearer way to examine the sequence of decisions recorded in their files, rather than concentrating only on the final order.

Limitations: Care order supporting an adoption plan was set aside. No placement or completed adoption order was reversed in this appeal. Subsequent final outcome not established.