A judge in a provincial court made an order recognising a special guardianship order which had been made for a child in the United Kingdom. Under UK child protection law, special guardians, usually close relatives of the child, have parental responsibility for the child who lives with them on a permanent basis until they are 18 years old. The court heard that the child in this case was now living with his special guardians in this jurisdiction. The Child and Family Agency (CFA) had confirmed that it had given formal consent for the order to be recognised.
The special guardians, who were the paternal aunt and uncle of the child, were represented by a lawyer, who explained that a special guardianship order had been made in the United Kingdom. She made an application to the judge to have the special guardianship order recognised by the Irish courts.
The lawyer said that she had received notification of the consent of the CFA to the order being recognised. The child was now living locally in the Irish jurisdiction and was doing very well. The child’s father was deceased and his mother had not opposed the order when it was made in the UK. The mother had been represented by a lawyer in the UK courts, where she had indicated that she was not in a position to provide adequate care for the child. The child had now been residing in this jurisdiction for over six months.
The judge said she had read all the documentation in advance. She asked if a guardian ad litem had been appointed for the child at any stage. The special guardians’ lawyer said that a guardian had been appointed to the child for the proceedings in the UK. The judge said that she was satisfied that the proofs were in order and she granted an order recognising the special guardianship order in this jurisdiction.