Children’s Guardian in public law proceedings

When public law proceedings are issued in relation to a child a Children’s Guardian will be appointed. This is somebody who will act on behalf of the child and the Guardian will have their own solicitor.

The purpose of a Children’s Guardian is to safeguard and promote the interests of the child by providing independent social work investigations and advice to courts in care, child protection adoption and other related court proceedings. The Children’s Guardian is independent of the Local Authority and they undertake their own enquiries and assessments.

During public law proceedings, the Children’s Guardian will speak to anybody they think appropriate for example the social worker, other professionals involved with the child and parents. They will also speak to the child to obtain their wishes. The Guardian will usually be directed to prepare a report at the beginning of the court proceedings to provide their short-term recommendation for the child and another report towards the end of the proceedings to provide their long-term recommendation for the child.

For further information, please contact enquiries@tmjlegal.co.uk.