The court upheld supervised contact but allowed the appeal against the section 91(14) order applying to the mother.
The Court of Appeal has clarified how the Child Focused Court model should operate in private children proceedings involving domestic abuse, while largely upholding child contact arrangements made by the Family Court.
In Re C (Child Arrangements Orders; Domestic Abuse; Child Focused Court) [2026] EWCA Civ 1216, the court dismissed the mother’s appeal against the arrangements for contact, parental responsibility and related protective orders. However, it allowed her appeal against a restriction under section 91(14) of the Children Act 1989. The judgment was handed down on 29 September 2026.
The case concerned four children whose parents had separated in 2023. The father had admitted a number of acts of domestic abuse, including controlling behaviour towards the mother, social isolation, smacking the children and an incident involving the youngest child. The earlier proceedings resulted in supervised contact between the father and the children.
The Court of Appeal emphasised that the introduction of the Child Focused Court model has changed procedure and culture, but has not changed the underlying legal framework. The welfare of the child remains paramount and Practice Direction 12J continues to apply in cases involving domestic abuse.
The court said that domestic abuse must be considered carefully when determining child arrangements. Where abuse has been established, the court must consider its impact and ensure that arrangements protect the safety and wellbeing of both the child and the parent with whom the child lives. Where contact with an alleged perpetrator is ordered, the judgment must explain why the arrangements do not expose the child to an unacceptable risk of harm.
However, the judgment also stressed that not every allegation of domestic abuse requires a fact-finding hearing. The key question is whether findings are necessary to provide a proper basis for assessing future risk and making a welfare decision. Courts should identify the real issues in dispute and determine only those factual matters that are materially relevant to the child’s welfare.
The Court of Appeal found that the judge had been entitled to maintain some supervised contact between the father and the children. It also upheld the decision to end telephone contact, after the judge concluded that the father’s conduct during telephone calls had caused emotional harm to the children.
The appeal was, however, allowed in relation to the section 91(14) order preventing the mother from making further applications concerning the children without permission until April 2027. The Court of Appeal concluded that the judge had not adequately analysed whether the mother’s conduct fell within the circumstances capable of justifying such an order.
The Court of Appeal therefore allowed the appeal only in relation to the section 91(14) order as it applied to the mother and dismissed the appeal in all other respects.