What is a Barring Order?
Barring Orders are a Court Order made under Section 91(14) Children Act 1989 is which bar individuals from making further applications to the Family Court under the Children Act 1989 without permission from the Court. This can also be referred to as a Section 91(14) Order.
Why are Barring Orders useful?
Barring Orders are an extremely useful protective filter which is used to prevent parents of a child being exposed to further proceedings. This is particularly important in cases where the victim is being repeatedly dragged back to court for no reasonable motive, by their abusive ex-partner, and this can be regarded as a continued form of domestic abuse.
The Applicant is usually seeking a child arrangements order, prohibited steps order or specific issue order. This can often be unnecessary and a means to intimidate the Respondent as a means of control, or occur where the Applicant has not been satisfied with the outcome of previous proceedings in relation to the children.
In situations where there is a history of applications to the court by the Applicant, or such application is contrary to the child’s welfare, the Court can make a barring order that requires the Applicant to obtain the Court’s permission before a future application can be made.
The Court must be satisfied that further applications under the Children Act by the Applicant would not be in the best interest of the child, when deciding whether a barring order should be made.
How is a barring order made?
The Court’s power to restrict applications before it is discretionary. This means that the Court can make a barring order without receiving a specific application for this, on their own initiative, where there is concern in relation to the welfare of the child.
It is important to carefully consider all relevant circumstances as the barring order has potential to interfere with the Applicant’s right to bring proceedings before the court in relation to matters impacting their child.
The Court has clear guidance that this is a power which must be used with great care and a measure of last resort where the Applicant has made repeated, unreasonable applications.
When is a barring order made?
A barring order can be made during the course of live proceedings by the Court, where there has been a history of repeated, baseless applications that have no merit. The Court can make the barring order where it is satisfied that the named person would put the child, or another relevant individual at risk of harm.
Harm is not limited to physical abuse, but can include threatening and intimidating behaviour, coercive and controlling behaviour, financial abuse, emotional or psychological abuse or sexual abuse.
It is also important that the harm does not have to have occurred, the ‘risk’ that harm may occur can be sufficient for a barring order to be made by the Court.
In cases where there are allegations of domestic abuse, or this is found to have occurred, the Court is required to have early consideration as to whether a barring order is appropriate.
There can be situations where it is necessary for the barring order to be made before the Applicant has even had opportunity to begin making repeated applications. These can occur where the child and Respondent are at extreme risk of harm, which will be assessed by the Court during the existing proceedings.
There are a number of circumstances in which the order is envisaged to be useful:
- Meritless applications (regardless of whether or not these are excessive in number). This also has a wider impact of ensuring the Court’s time and resources are not spent unnecessarily on applications that have no merit.
- Circumstances where the party’s conduct has been inappropriate during the course of proceedings such as reporting the other parent without merit to local authorities or the police, or harassment of the other party during proceedings via social media, emails etc.
- Matters in which it is apparent that the proceedings have been brought as a means of control over the other parent.
Can Children Act applications still be made by the Applicant, if there is a barring order in place?
Whilst the Applicant can still make an application to the Court, where there is a barring order, the Court will review the application to consider whether there has been a “material change” of the child’s circumstances which is significant enough for permission to be granted to the Applicant (who has received the barring order), to apply.
How long will a barring order last?
A barring order will remain in place as long as the Court regard necessary. The Court has discretion as to the duration of the order however will ensure that this is not a disproportionate length of time.