- Latest available (Revised)
- Original (As made)
There are outstanding changes not yet made by the legislation.gov.uk editorial team to The Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995. Any changes that have already been made by the team appear in the content and are referenced with annotations.
Revised legislation carried on this site may not be fully up to date. Changes and effects are recorded by our editorial team in lists which can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area. Where those effects have yet to be applied to the text of the legislation by the editorial team they are also listed alongside the legislation in the affected provisions. Use the ‘more’ link to open the changes and effects relevant to the provision you are viewing.
Whole provisions yet to be inserted into this Order (including any effects on those provisions):
53.—(1) Where a child is in the care of an authority, the authority shall (subject to the provisions of this Article) allow the child reasonable contact with—
(a)his parents;
(b)any guardian of his;
(c)where there was a residence order in force with respect to the child immediately before the care order was made, the person in whose favour the residence order was made; and
(d)where, immediately before the care order was made, a person had care of the child by virtue of an order made in the exercise of the High Court's inherent jurisdiction with respect to children, that person.
(2) On an application made by the authority or the child, the court may make such order as it considers appropriate with respect to the contact which is to be allowed between the child and any named person.
(3) On an application made by—
(a)any person mentioned in sub-paragraphs (a) to (d) of paragraph (1); or
(b)any person who has obtained the leave of the court to make the application,
the court may make such order as it considers appropriate with respect to the contact which is to be allowed between the child and that person.
(4) On an application made by the authority or the child, the court may make an order authorising the authority to refuse to allow contact between the child and any person who is mentioned in sub-paragraphs (a) to (d) of paragraph (1) and named in the order.
(5) When making a care order with respect to a child, or in any family proceedings in connection with a child who is in the care of an authority, the court may make an order under this Article, even though no application for such an order has been made with respect to the child, if the court considers that the order should be made.
(6) An authority may refuse to allow the contact that would otherwise be required by virtue of paragraph (1) or an order under this Article if—
(a)the authority is satisfied that it is necessary to do so in order to safeguard or promote the child's welfare; and
(b)the refusal—
(i)is decided upon as a matter of urgency; and
(ii)does not last for more than seven days.
(7) An order under this Article may impose such conditions as the court considers appropriate.
(8) The Department may by regulations make provision as to—
(a)the steps to be taken by an authority which has exercised its powers under paragraph (6);
(b)the circumstances in which, and conditions subject to which, the terms of any order under this Article may be departed from by agreement between the authority and the person in relation to whom the order is made;
(c)notification by an authority of any variation or suspension of arrangements made (otherwise than under an order under this Article) with a view to affording any person contact with a child to whom this Article applies.
(9) The court may vary or discharge any order made under this Article on the application of the authority, the child concerned or the person named in the order.
(10) An order under this Article may be made either at the same time as the care order itself or later.
(11) Before making a care order with respect to any child the court shall—
(a)consider the arrangements which the authority has made, or proposes to make, for affording any person contact with a child to whom this Article applies; and
(b)invite the parties to the proceedings to comment on those arrangements.
The Whole Order you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.
Would you like to continue?
The Whole Order you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download.
Would you like to continue?
The Whole Order you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.
Would you like to continue?
Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area.
Original (As Enacted or Made): The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. No changes have been applied to the text.
Geographical Extent: Indicates the geographical area that this provision applies to. For further information see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.
Show Timeline of Changes: See how this legislation has or could change over time. Turning this feature on will show extra navigation options to go to these specific points in time. Return to the latest available version by using the controls above in the What Version box.
Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
This timeline shows the different points in time where a change occurred. The dates will coincide with the earliest date on which the change (e.g an insertion, a repeal or a substitution) that was applied came into force. The first date in the timeline will usually be the earliest date when the provision came into force. In some cases the first date is 01/02/1991 (or for Northern Ireland legislation 01/01/2006). This date is our basedate. No versions before this date are available. For further information see the Editorial Practice Guide and Glossary under Help.