“…Ms Fottrell also referred to the judgment of Black LJ, as she then was, in In re W (A Child) (Care Proceedings: Child’s Representation) [2017] 1 WLR 1027 and to the April 2022 Family Justice Council’s Guidance on Assessing Child’s Competence to Instruct a Solicitor (“April 2022 Guidance”) both of which, she subm…”
“…Re W (A Child) (Care Proceedings: Child's Representation) Practice Note [2016] EWCA Civ 1051, [2017] 1 WLR 1027, concerned FW, a 16-year-old girl who had been made subject to a care order in March 2015. During those proceedings, which included a fact-finding hearing in N…”
“…ion friend. In the course of his judgment, he referred to what Black LJ (as she then was) had said in Re W (A Child) (Care Proceedings: Child’s Representation) [2017] 1 WLR 1027, at [27]: “What is sufficient understanding in any given case will depend on all the facts”. Also relevant is what she said, at [36], namely that the “judge wi…”