The law about children
This part of the Cafcass website is intended to provide an
overview of the law about children in the sort of cases in which
Cafcass is involved. It is mainly intended for parents and other
adults but we hope that it may also be helpful to some older
children.
Please note that neither Cafcass nor its
officers can provide legal advice except where, through Cafcass
Legal Services, it has been appointed to be a child’s legal
representative. In particular, the pages in this part of the
Cafcass website do not constitute legal advice and should not be
treated as a substitute for it.
Legal advice may be available from a Citizen’s
Advice Bureau or from a solicitor. Cafcass strongly recommends any
solicitor you use is experienced in cases about children and is a
member of the Law Society Children Panel. Details of local
solicitors who are members of the Panel can be obtained from
www.lawsociety.org.uk/choosingandusing/findasolicitor.law
or found in your local Yellow Pages under ‘Solicitors’.
Solicitors who are experienced in cases about
children are also likely to be a member of either or both of the
Solicitors Family Law
Association or the Association of Lawyers for
Children.
Click the links below for legal
information about:
Copies of statutes (including the Children Act
1989) and statutory instruments (including the Family Proceedings
Rules 1991) from 1988 are available at http://www.opsi.gov.uk/.
Note: However this website does not update
legislation when, as quite often happens, it is changed by later
legislation.