B (Child), Re

Judgment

Lady Justice Black:

This case concerns a 4 year old girl, B. She has been the subject of litigation for some time, the last order in relation to her having been made by Bodey J on 19 May 2016 when B’s mother’s application for leave to oppose her adoption was dismissed. The mother is seeking to appeal against that decision.

Preliminary matter

When the case came before me for consideration of whether permission to appeal should be granted, I concluded that the position was somewhat unclear and therefore made provision for the matter to be listed in front of me and another judge on the basis that the question of permission to appeal would be considered in the light of submissions from all parties and, in the event that permission was given, the full appeal would be heard at the same time. I gave directions to this effect on 15 December 2016 and, at the same time, I gave a judgment setting out the matters that concerned me in relation to Bodey J’s decision, in order that the skeleton arguments prepared for the permission to appeal/appeal hearing could address them. It was disappointing to find that the parties do not seem to have taken steps to obtain a copy of my judgment in preparation for the appeal hearing, with the result that it was only during the hearing that significant issues that I had raised in it received attention.

In order to help others in the same situation, it might be worth saying a little more on this topic. When an oral hearing takes place in relation to an application for permission to appeal, as the order that I made on 15 December 2016 showed had happened here, the judge will often give a judgment. Parties involved in the appeal need to ensure that they have sight of that judgment because it will almost certainly assist considerably in indicating the likely focus of any subsequent hearing in relation to the appeal. Judgments given in relation to questions of permission to appeal are routinely transcribed, so copies should be obtainable without difficulty.

CPR Practice Direction 52C dictates that the core bundle for the appeal hearing must contain a transcript of the judgment giving permission to appeal, where permission has been granted. This does not, strictly speaking, cover the instant case as permission was stood over to be determined at the same time as the appeal. However, there is, in fact, just as much need for all parties and the court to have access to the judgment given in these circumstances as in a case in wh