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Practice Note for Safeguarders on Court Foreward

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Practice Note for Safeguarders on Court Foreward Practice Note for Safeguarders on Court Foreward Court proceedings are involved in the Children’s Hearings System to allow challenge to grounds or decisions that justify compulsory intervention in a child and a family’s life. The court is a different context to that of a Children’s Hearing. There is often a lot at stake for children and their families and it can be difficult to understand and participate in what are more formal processes. The Safeguarder has an important role to play in keeping the child at the centre and safeguarding the interests of the child during the child’s involvement in this part of the Children’s Hearing system. The Safeguarder is the only role tasked exclusively with this focus. It is important that Safeguarders are able to perform their role to the highest of standards and in doing so, never lose sight of the individual child and their needs whilst these proceedings are ongoing. Contents Part 1: Practice Positions 1 1. Role of the Safeguarder at Court 2 2. Appointment 3 3. Attendance at Court 5 4. Reports for Court During Proceedings for the Determination of Grounds 8 5. Should Safeguarders be a Party to the Court Proceedings? 11 6. Officer of the Court 15 7. Curator Ad Litem 17 8. Conflict of Interest 19 9. Legal Advice and/or Representation for the Safeguarder 20 10. Confidentiality 24 11. Children in Court Proceedings 25 12. Enquiries 29 13. Safeguarders Role Regarding Delay 31 14. Grounds Applications – Order of Parties at Proof/Hearing of Evidence 32 15. Support for Safeguarders in Their Role at Court 33 16. Experience of Higher Courts as Safeguarders 35 Part 2: Information 36 1. Children’s Hearings Court Proceedings – General Context 38 2. Court Structures 39 3. Relevant Legislation 41 4. Legal Terminology 43 5. Types of Court Proceedings for Safeguarders 44 6. Roles at Court (Children’s Hearing Court Proceedings) 46 7. Rights and Duties of Safeguarder (Court) 49 8. Appointment (Relevant To Court) 52 9. Attendance at Court 55 10. Enquiries 56 11. Becoming a Party to the Court Proceedings 58 12. Legal Advice and/or Representation for the Safeguarder 60 13. Confidentiality 61 14. Children in Court Proceedings 62 15. Grounds Applications 64 16. Appointment and Reasons 66 17. Grounds Applications – Summary of Process 67 18. Dispensing with Hearing Evidence – Fast Track Applications or Grounds Accepted 70 19. Grounds Applications – Outcomes 72 20. Appeals 74 21. Courts Involved in Appeals 75 22. Timescales for Appeals 76 23. Decisions That Can be Appealed 82 24. Reviews of Children’s Hearing Decisions at Court 84 25. Legal Criteria for Appealing / Grounds to Appeal 86 26. Who Can Appeal Decisions 89 27. Frivolous and Vexatious Appeals 92 28. Outcomes of Appeals 93 29. Appeals Against Interim Compulsory Supervision Orders (ICSOs) 95 30. Appeals From the Sheriff to the Sheriff Appeal Court/Court of Session 96 31. Rights and Duties of Safeguarders (Appeals Against Children’s Hearing Decisions) 105 Part 3: Practice 107 1. Considerations 109 2. Grounds Applications 112 Step 1 - Application made to court 113 Step 2 - Sherrif Clerk and Sherrif consider the application, Appointment and Enquiries 116 Step 3 - First court hearing 133 Step 4 - Further court hearings 142 Step 5 - Grounds agreed by negotiation 143 Step 6 - Fixing a date for hearing evidence and pre-proof hearing 146 Step 7 - Reporting to a Children’s Hearing following grounds determination 164 3. Interim Compulsory Supervision Orders (ICSOs) 165 4. Appeals Against Children’s Hearing’s Decisions 170 Step-by-step guide for Safeguarder who is not the appellant 170 Step-by-step guide for Safeguarder who is the appellant 186 Court Practice Note – Word index for Part 3 194 Apprendix 1 - Scottish Court System 197 Appendix 2 - Legal Jargonbuster 202 Appendix 3 - Rights and Duties of the Safeguarder at Court 210 Appendix 4 - Grounds Application Form 225 Part 1: Practice Positions Introduction The purpose of the Practice Note on Court is: • to support Safeguarders to be able to consistently and confidently perform their role at its best for children where court proceedings are involved. • to achieve greater consistency of practice for Safeguarders in their role in relation to court. • to ensure that everyone involved in the proceedings is clear as to the role of Safeguarders in relation to court so that expectations of the role at court are more consistent. The Note supplements the Practice Standards and current Practice Notes to clarify practice. It will be used to allow practice performance to be supported and monitored and will be used in conjunction with induction and continuing professional development for new and existing Safeguarders. The 3 Parts of the Note are intended to work together to provide all the written information that Safeguarders may require in relation to their role at court. Part 1 of the Practice Note contains Practice Positions that are statements of practice expected of a Safeguarder. This Part assumes a level of knowledge of the role. If you are new to the role of the Safeguarder, it can be helpful to read Parts 2 and 3 first. Part 2 provides information on the purpose of court, court structures and the basis for court proceedings commonly experienced by Safeguarders. Part 3 is a practice walk-through of the most common proceedings. 1 1. Role of the Safeguarder at Court Practice Position 1: Role of the Safeguarder in court proceedings The role of the Safeguarder in court proceedings is the same as the overall role: to safeguard the interests of the child. Differences in Safeguarders performing the role for court relate to • the context within which the role is operating, • the activities that the Safeguarder performs and • the knowledge required for the proceedings. All appointments to a child have the possibility of court work being involved. All Safeguarders are expected to be able to perform their role where that includes court proceedings, to be a member of the national Safeguarders Panel. There is no requirement for Safeguarders to be legally qualified for court related proceedings. There are no specialist court Safeguarders. The Practice Standards for Safeguarders require Safeguarders to be skilled in communication, relationship building, enquiring, negotiation and other requirements all of which are relevant to the court role - especially keeping the child at the centre. Safeguarders are recruited, inducted and offered ongoing learning and development and support through the Performance Support & Monitoring Framework, to ensure that they are able to perform the role at court. This will include working to practice contained in this Note. 2 2. Appointment Practice Position 2: Appointment by Children’s Hearing or Sheriff The source of the appointment i.e. Children’s Hearing or Sheriff, does not affect • the extent of the role • when the appointment should end Most Safeguarder appointments relating to court are for applications to establish grounds or appeals against Children’s Hearing decisions. Where grounds are at court, Safeguarders are often involved in the consideration of interim orders, where these are in place for a child. In most cases, an appointment involving grounds applications occurs when the Sheriff is considering an application for the establishment of grounds. In some cases, the Children’s Hearing will appoint when it sends the grounds to court1. For an appointment relating to an appeal, most Safeguarders are already appointed and involved in the decisions that are being appealed. A Sheriff occasionally appoints to an appeal when no Safeguarder has been involved. A Sheriff can appoint at any stage of proceedings including after the proceedings have commenced, but this is very rarely done. In some cases, the Reporter has indicated, usually through the 1 This information is based on a review of the allocation information held by the Safeguarders Panel Team. application for grounds establishment or on occasions when the grounds are first heard in court, that they believe a Safeguarder is required. There is NO provision for this and the reasons for this recommendation may be included in the application or not. It is for the Sheriff to decide if a Safeguarder is required but these recommendations can be influential in this decision. No person can be appointed Safeguarder by the Sheriff outwith the agreed allocation process. A Children’s Hearing appointment entitles the Safeguarder to be involved in court proceedings. A Sheriff appointment for grounds proceedings lasts through to the substantive decision of the Children’s Hearing following the grounds being determined at court (and if the hearing decision is appealed until determination of the appeal) (link to Further Provision regs). Sometimes grounds are not established at court but other matters are still outstanding from the Children’s Hearing that sent the grounds to court. The Safeguarder may have been appointed by the Sheriff at the grounds application stage and there may be some confusion as to the Safeguarder’s continuing involvement and providing a report for the hearing for these other outstanding matters. (link to Practice Notes on Reports). See Practice Position 5 below which covers this situation. 4 3. Attendance at Court Practice Position 3: Attendance at court A Safeguarder should attend court so far as reasonably practicable. The 2011 Act and the court rules provide a right for the Safeguarder to attend court proceedings2. There is no express duty in law to attend court3. The Safeguarder role is a personal appointment and the Safeguarder cannot send someone on their behalf. The Practice Standards for Safeguarders and the legislation and rules provide an expectation that the Safeguarder will be engaged with the proceedings. In practice, for a Safeguarder to comply with the purpose of the role to safeguard a child’s interests in the proceedings, it is difficult to see how the role could be performed effectively without the Safeguarder attending court hearings so far as is reasonably practicable.
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