Section 91(14) Order - preventing an application under the Children Act 1989 without permission

29th July 2022

Lower threshold for Children Act 1989, s 91(14) filter

Section 67 of the DAA 2021 inserts a new s 91A into the Children Act 1989 [‘CA 1989’]. For two decades, the circumstances in which a party may be prohibited from bringing further CA 1989 applications has been governed by the Court of Appeal decision in Re P [1999] 2 FLR 573 which required the use of the power in s 91(14) to be exercised with great care and sparingly, the exception not the rule.

CA 1989, s 91A establishes a new, lower, statutory threshold for the deployment of a s 91(14) prohibition by which the power may be exercised when the court is satisfied that the making of an application for a CA 1989 order of a specified kind would put the child concerned or another individual ‘at risk of harm’.

(Source: A (Short) View from the Presidents Chambers - July 2022)

In practice

If a victim of domestic abuse is concerned that the perpetrator of the abuse is likely to make a further application in relation to the arrangements for the children which will cause the children or them harm, then the court can prohibit them from making the application without first obtaining the permission of the court for a set peroid.