Statement by the Delegation of Armenia in response to the statement by the Delegation of Azerbaijan on the abduction of two Azerbaijani civilians by Armenia in the occupied territories
In section 98 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (pre-commencement adoptions: information), after subsection (1) insert—
In each of subsections (2) and (3) of that section, for “that purpose” substitute “a purpose within subsection (1) or (1A)”.
In subsection (7) of that section, after the definition of “appointed day” insert—.
Section 22C of the Children Act 1989 is amended as follows.
In subsection (7), after “subject to” insert “subsection (9B) and”.
After subsection (9) insert—
Section 1 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (considerations applying when making decisions about the adoption of a child) is amended as follows.
In subsection (5) (due consideration to be given to religious persuasion, racial origin and cultural and linguistic background), for “In placing the child for adoption, the adoption agency” substitute “In placing a child for adoption, an adoption agency in Wales”.
In consequence of the amendment made by subsection (2)—
in subsection (1), for “This section applies” substitute “Subsections (2) to (4) apply”;
in subsection (6), for “The court or adoption agency” substitute “In coming to a decision relating to the adoption of a child, a court or adoption agency”;
after subsection (8) insert—
In Chapter 2 of Part 1 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (the Adoption Service) after section 3 insert—
In section 140(3) of that Act (statutory instruments containing subordinate legislation that are subject to the affirmative procedure), before paragraph (a) insert—.
The Secretary of State may not make an order under subsection (2) of section 3A of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (as inserted by subsection (1)) before 1 March 2015.
In Chapter 2 of Part 1 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (the Adoption Service) after section 4 insert—
In Chapter 2 of Part 1 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (the Adoption Service) after section 4A (as inserted by section 5) insert—
The Adoption and Children Act 2002 is amended as follows.
In section 125 (Adoption and Children Act Register)—
in subsection (1)(a), after “children who are suitable for adoption” insert “, children for whom a local authority in England are considering adoption”;
in subsection (3), after “search” insert “(subject to regulations under section 128A)”.
In section 128 (supply of information for the register), in subsection (4)(b), after “children suitable for adoption” insert “or for whom a local authority in England are considering adoption”.
After section 128 insert—
In section 129 (disclosure of information), in subsection (2)(a) after “suitable for adoption” insert “or for whom a local authority in England is considering adoption”.
In section 140(7) (power for subordinate legislation to make different provision for different purposes) after “purposes” insert “or areas”.
In section 97 of the Children Act 1989 (privacy for children involved in certain proceedings), after subsection (6) insert—
Schedule 1 (amendments to the Adoption and Children Act 2002 to provide for the Adoption and Children Act Register not to apply to Wales and Scotland and to remove the requirement to make provision for that register by Order in Council, and other related amendments) has effect.
Section 34 of the Children Act 1989 (parental contact etc with children in care) is amended as follows.
In subsection (1), after “subject to the provisions of this section” insert “and their duty under section 22(3)(a)”.
After subsection (6) insert—
In subsection (8), before paragraph (a) insert—.
In subsection (11) after “Before” insert “making, varying or discharging an order under this section or”.
After section 51 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 insert—
In section 1 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (considerations applying to the exercise of powers relating to the adoption of a child), in subsection (7)(a) after “section 26” insert “or 51A”.
In section 26 of that Act (children placed, or authorised to be placed, for adoption: contact), omit subsection (5).
In section 96(3) of that Act (section 95 does not prohibit payment of legal or medical expenses in connection with applications under section 26 etc) after “26” insert “, 51A”.
In section 1(1) of the Family Law Act 1986 (orders which are Part 1 orders) after paragraph (ab) insert—.
In section 2 of that Act (jurisdiction of courts in England and Wales to make Part 1 orders: pre-conditions) after subsection (2B) insert—
In section 9 of the Children Act 1989, in subsection (5)(a) (restrictions on making certain orders with respect to children) after “order” insert “or an order under section 51A of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (post-adoption contact)”.
In section 17(4) of the Armed Forces Act 1991 (persons to be given notice of application for service family child assessment order) before paragraph (e) insert—.
In section 18(7) of that Act (persons who may apply to vary or discharge a service family child assessment order) before paragraph (e) insert—.
In section 20(8) of that Act (persons who are to be allowed reasonable contact with a child subject to a protection order) before paragraph (d) insert—.
In section 22A(7) of that Act (persons who are to be allowed reasonable contact with a child in service police protection) before paragraph (d) insert—.
In Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (civil legal services)—
section 51A of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (post-adoption contact orders).
in paragraph 13(1) (protection of children and family matters) after paragraph (f) insert—
Before making a relevant family application, a person must attend a family mediation information and assessment meeting.
Family Procedure Rules—
may provide for subsection (1) not to apply in circumstances specified in the Rules,
may make provision about convening a family mediation information and assessment meeting, or about the conduct of such a meeting,
may make provision for the court not to issue, or otherwise deal with, an application if, in contravention of subsection (1), the applicant has not attended a family mediation information and assessment meeting, and
may provide for a determination as to whether an applicant has contravened subsection (1) to be made after considering only evidence of a description specified in the Rules.
In this section—
“the court” means the High Court or the family court;
“children proceedings” has such meaning as may be prescribed by Family Procedure Rules;
“child” means a person under the age of 18;
“family proceedings” has the same meaning as in section 75 of the Courts Act 2003;
“the court”, in relation to any children proceedings, means the court in which the proceedings are taking place;
“local authority”—
is made to the court in, or to initiate, family proceedings, and
the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, or
in relation to England means— a county council, a district council for an area for which there is no county council, a London borough council, the Common Council of the City of London, or the Council of the Isles of Scilly, and
in relation to Wales means a county council or a county borough council.
This section is without prejudice to sections 75 and 76 of the Courts Act 2003 (power to make Family Procedure Rules).
Section 1 of the Children Act 1989 (welfare of the child) is amended as follows.
After subsection (2) insert—
After subsection (5) insert—
Section 8(1) of the Children Act 1989 is amended as follows.
Omit the definitions of “contact order” and “residence order”.
After “In this Act—” insert—.
Schedule 2 (amendments relating to child arrangements orders) has effect.
A person may not without the permission of the court instruct a person to provide expert evidence for use in children proceedings.
Where in contravention of subsection (1) a person is instructed to provide expert evidence, evidence resulting from the instructions is inadmissible in children proceedings unless the court rules that it is admissible.
A person may not without the permission of the court cause a child to be medically or psychiatrically examined or otherwise assessed for the purposes of the provision of expert evidence in children proceedings.
Where in contravention of subsection (3) a child is medically or psychiatrically examined or otherwise assessed, evidence resulting from the examination or other assessment is inadmissible in children proceedings unless the court rules that it is admissible.
In children proceedings, a person may not without the permission of the court put expert evidence (in any form) before the court.
The court may give permission as mentioned in subsection (1), (3) or (5) only if the court is of the opinion that the expert evidence is necessary to assist the court to resolve the proceedings justly.
When deciding whether to give permission as mentioned in subsection (1), (3) or (5) the court is to have regard in particular to—
any impact which giving permission would be likely to have on the welfare of the children concerned, including in the case of permission as mentioned in subsection (3) any impact which any examination or other assessment would be likely to have on the welfare of the child who would be examined or otherwise assessed,
the issues to which the expert evidence would relate,
the questions which the court would require the expert to answer,
what other expert evidence is available (whether obtained before or after the start of proceedings),
whether evidence could be given by another person on the matters on which the expert would give evidence,
the impact which giving permission would be likely to have on the timetable for, and duration and conduct of, the proceedings,
the cost of the expert evidence, and
any matters prescribed by Family Procedure Rules.
References in this section to providing expert evidence, or to putting expert evidence before a court, do not include references to—
the provision or giving of evidence—
by a person who is a member of the staff of a local authority or of an authorised applicant,
in proceedings to which the authority or authorised applicant is a party, and
in the course of the person’s work for the authority or authorised applicant,
the provision or giving of evidence—
by a person within a description prescribed for the purposes of subsection (1) of section 94 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (suitability for adoption etc.), and
about the matters mentioned in that subsection,
the provision or giving of evidence by an officer of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service when acting in that capacity, or
the provision or giving of evidence by a Welsh family proceedings officer (as defined by section 35(4) of the Children Act 2004) when acting in that capacity.
In this section—
The preceding provisions of this section are without prejudice to sections 75 and 76 of the Courts Act 2003 (power to make Family Procedure Rules).
In section 38 of the Children Act 1989 (court’s power to make interim care and supervision orders, and to give directions as to medical examination etc. of children) after subsection (7) insert—
The Children Act 1989 is amended as follows.
In section 32(1)(a) (timetable for dealing with application for care or supervision order) for “disposing of the application without delay; and” substitute disposing of the application—.
In section 32 (care and supervision orders) after subsection (2) insert—
In section 38 (interim care and supervision orders)—
in subsection (4) (duration of interim order) omit—
paragraph (a) (order may not last longer than 8 weeks), and
paragraph (b) (subsequent order generally may not last longer than 4 weeks),
in that subsection after paragraph (d) insert—, and
omit subsection (5) (interpretation of subsection (4)(b)).
In section 11(1) (section 8 orders: court’s duty, in the light of rules made by virtue of section 11(2), to draw up timetable and give directions to implement it) for “rules made by virtue of subsection (2))” substitute “provision in rules of court that is of the kind mentioned in subsection (2)(a) or (b))”.
In section 14E(1) (special guardianship orders: court’s duty, in the light of rules made by virtue of subsection (3), to draw up timetable and give directions to implement it) for “rules made by virtue of subsection (3))” substitute “provision in rules of court that is of the kind mentioned in section 11(2)(a) or (b))”.
In section 32(1) (care and supervision orders: court’s duty, in the light of rules made by virtue of section 32(2), to draw up timetable and give directions to implement it)—
for “hearing an application for an order under this Part” substitute “in which an application for an order under this Part is proceeding”, and
for “rules made by virtue of subsection (2))” substitute “provision in rules of court that is of the kind mentioned in subsection (2)(a) or (b))”.
In section 109(1) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (adoption and placement orders: court’s duty, in the light of rules made by virtue of section 109(2), to draw up timetable and give directions to implement it) for “rules made by virtue of subsection (2))” substitute “provision in rules of court that is of the kind mentioned in subsection (2)(a) or (b))”.
For section 31(3A) of the Children Act 1989 (no care order to be made until court has considered section 31A care plan) substitute—
In section 31A of the Children Act 1989 (care plans)—
in subsection (1) (where application made for care order, care plan to be prepared within such time as the court may direct) for “the court may direct” substitute “may be prescribed”, and
after subsection (4) insert—
In consequence of subsection (1), section 121(1) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 is repealed.
In section 104 of the Children Act 1989 (regulations and orders)—
in subsections (2) and (3A) (regulations within subsection (3B) or (3C) not subject to annulment but to be approved in draft) after “(3B)” insert “, (3BA)”, and
after subsection (3B) insert—
In section 104A(1) of the Children Act 1989 (regulations made by the Welsh Ministers to be made by statutory instrument) after “Part 3,” insert “section 31A,”.
The following are repealed—
section 41 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (in proceedings for divorce etc. court is to consider whether to exercise powers under Children Act 1989);
section 63 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (in proceedings for dissolution etc. court is to consider whether to exercise powers under Children Act 1989).
The following amendments and repeals are in consequence of the repeals made by subsection (1).
In section 9(1)(a) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (proceedings after decree of divorce: power to make decree absolute is subject to section 41)—
for “sections” substitute “section”, and
omit “and 41”.
In section 17(2) of that Act (grant of decree of judicial separation is subject to section 41) omit “, subject to section 41 below,”.
Omit paragraph 31 of Schedule 12 to the Children Act 1989 (which substitutes section 41 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973).
In section 40(4)(b) of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (proceedings after conditional order: power to make order final is subject to section 63) omit the words from “and section 63” to the end.
In section 56(3) of that Act (making of separation order is subject to section 63) omit “, subject to section 63,”.
Part 2 of the Family Law Act 1996 (divorce and separation), except section 22 (the only provision of Part 2 which is in force), is repealed.
In consequence of subsection (1), the following provisions of the Family Law Act 1996 (which relate to provisions of Part 2) are repealed—
section 1(c) and (d),
section 63(2)(a),
section 64(1)(a),
in section 65(5) the words “to rules made under section 12 or”,
Part 1 of Schedule 8, except—
paragraph 16(5)(a), (6)(b) and (7) (which have been brought into force), and
paragraphs 4 and 16(1) (which relate to those provisions),
in Schedule 9, paragraphs 1 and 2 and, in paragraph 4, the definitions of “decree”, “instrument” and “petition”, and
in Schedule 10, the entries relating to—
the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973,
the Domicile and Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1973,
sections 1, 7 and 63 of, and paragraph 38 of Schedule 2 to, the Domestic Proceedings and Magistrates’ Courts Act 1978,
the Senior Courts Act 1981,
the Administration of Justice Act 1982,
the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984,
the Family Law Act 1986, and
Schedule 13 to the Children Act 1989.
In consequence of subsections (1) and (2), the following provisions are repealed—
paragraphs 50 to 52 of Schedule 4 to the Access to Justice Act 1999,
the following provisions of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999—
section 28(1)(b) and (c), (2), (4) and (5),
section 48(1)(b) and (c), (2), (4) and (5), and
in Schedule 12, paragraphs 64 to 66,
paragraphs 22 to 25 of Schedule 1 to the Constitutional Reform Act 2005,
paragraph 12 of Schedule 2 to the Children and Adoption Act 2006, and
the following provisions of Schedule 5 to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012—
paragraphs 43 to 45, and
in the second column of the Table in Part 2, paragraph (l) of the entry relating to Schedule 4 to the Access to Justice Act 1999.
In consequence of subsection (1), in section 1 of the Family Law Act 1996 (general principles underlying Part 2), in the words before paragraph (a) and in the title, for “Parts II and III” substitute “section 22”.
In consequence of subsection (3)(b)(i), in section 28(11) of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 (interpretation of subsections (4)(b), (5)(c) and (6)) for “subsections (4)(b), (5)(c) and” substitute “subsection”.
The modifications set out in subsection (7), which were originally made by article 3(2) of the No. 2 Order and article 4 of the No. 3 Order, are to continue to have effect but as amendments of the provisions concerned (rather than as modifications having effect until the coming into force of provisions of the Family Law Act 1996 repealed by this section without having come into force).
The modifications are—
in section 22(2) of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984 for the words from “if” to “granted” substitute “if a decree of divorce, a decree of nullity of marriage or a decree of judicial separation has been granted”, and
in section 31 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973—
in subsection (7D) for “Subsections (7) and (8) of section 22A” substitute “Section 23(6)”,
in subsection (7D) for “section 22A” substitute “section 23”, and
in subsection (7F) for “section 23A” substitute “section 24”.
In section 31(7D) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973—
for “apply”, in the first place, substitute “applies”, and
for “they apply where it” substitute “it applies where the court”.
Articles 3(2) and 4 of the No. 2 Order, and article 4 of the No. 3 Order, are revoked; and in subsection (6) and this subsection—
“the No. 2 Order” means the Family Law Act 1996 (Commencement No. 2) Order 1997 (S.I. 1997/1892), and
“the No. 3 Order” means the Family Law Act 1996 (Commencement No. 3) Order 1998 (S.I. 1998/2572).
In exercising a function under this Part in the case of a child or young person, a local authority in England must have regard to the following matters in particular—
the views, wishes and feelings of the child and his or her parent, or the young person;
the importance of the child and his or her parent, or the young person, participating as fully as possible in decisions relating to the exercise of the function concerned;
the importance of the child and his or her parent, or the young person, being provided with the information and support necessary to enable participation in those decisions;
the need to support the child and his or her parent, or the young person, in order to facilitate the development of the child or young person and to help him or her achieve the best possible educational and other outcomes.
A child or young person has special educational needs if he or she has a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her.
A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she—
has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or
has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions.
A child under compulsory school age has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she is likely to be within subsection (2) when of compulsory school age (or would be likely, if no special educational provision were made).
A child or young person does not have a learning difficulty or disability solely because the language (or form of language) in which he or she is or will be taught is different from a language (or form of language) which is or has been spoken at home.
This section applies for the purposes of this Part.
“Special educational provision”, for a child aged two or more or a young person, means educational or training provision that is additional to, or different from, that made generally for others of the same age in—
mainstream schools in England,
maintained nursery schools in England,
mainstream post-16 institutions in England, or
places in England at which relevant early years education is provided.
“Special educational provision”, for a child aged under two, means educational provision of any kind.
“Health care provision” means the provision of health care services as part of the comprehensive health service in England continued under section 1(1) of the National Health Service Act 2006.
“Social care provision” means the provision made by a local authority in the exercise of its social services functions.
Health care provision or social care provision which educates or trains a child or young person is to be treated as special educational provision (instead of health care provision or social care provision).
This section applies for the purposes of this Part.