Private and public family law - explaining the difference
You may have heard of the terms private and public family law. We generally deal with private law, where parents are separating or divorcing and want to put in place arrangements such as child contact and decisions about how and where children way be living.
Applications for child arrangements orders are usually between private individuals under Section 8 Children Act 1989, known as private law matters. In this case, the child or children are not a part of the proceedings.
There are exceptions in particular circumstances that may make the case complex. If this is the case, a children’s guardian (a Cafcass Officer) is appointed to represent the child in the proceedings and the guardian will appoint a solicitor.
Cafcass stands for Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, a body who independently advise family courts and represents children in family court cases in England.
This will mainly be the case where parents or carers cannot agree on arrangements for their children.
You can find out more about Cafcass at their website through this link.
Only where a person is seeking an order in respect of a child who is in the care of the local authority it will be considered a public law matter.