Authors:Sophy Miles
Created:2016-09-30
Last updated:2023-09-18
No power of arrest available in the Inherent Jurisdiction
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Administrator
Practitioners in the Court of Protection will be interested in the judgment of HHJ Bellamy, sitting as a deputy High Court Judge in the case ofFD.  A former ward of court with a mild learning disability and an emotional disorder, FD was the subject on attaining the age of 18 of proceedings firstly in the Court of Protection and subsequently when an expert report concluded her to have capacity in the relevant domains under the Inherent Jurisdiction.  Injunctions were sought against individuals considered to pose a risk to FD, and the court was originally persuaded to add a power of arrest, on the basis that Munby J as he then was had imposed such a power inRe SA.   However the judge later became aware of an older authority, Re G (Wardship:  Power of Arrest [1983] 4 FLR 538, in which the Court of Appeal held that there is no power of arrest available in wardship proceedings.  After hearing argument HHJ Bellamy held that in Re SA Munby J was exercising the power under Part IV Family Law Act 1996 to attach a power of arrest to a non-molestation injunction.  This power is no longer available following amendments in 2007.  HHJ Bellamy therefore concluded that there is no jurisdiction under the Inherent Jurisdiction to attach a power of arrest to an injunction.