It was desirable for the court to case manage jointly family law and support proceedingsZambrano carers:joint management of family law and support proceedingsZambrano carers:residence orders

Facts: F was unlawfully present in the UK and did not have any outstanding application for LTR. She had a 14-year-old son, but the father (from whom F was separated) had a residence order in relation to the son. There were family court proceedings in which F was seeking a residence order. The family court was unable to grant F shared residence unless she had accommodation and Barking and Dagenham declined to provide F with accommodation on the basis that her son did not live with her. F claimed that this was incompatible with her right to respect for her family life, under Article 8 ECHR.

Judgment: Deputy High Court Judge Cheema QC held that the family court was best placed to resolve this conundrum: ‘I direct that this claim is transferred to a High Court Judge who is also nominated to sit in the Family Division so that a Case Management Hearing can take place as soon as possible, and certainly well before the November 2015 date presently fixed for the five-day hearing in the Family Court. The High Court Judge will be in the best position to look at the interests of J in the round and make the appropriate order in this claim and the family proceedings. Joinder of the two sets of proceedings will also overcome a specific difficulty identified by the defendant, namely the absence of J’s father from this case’.