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16 Liverpool L. Rev. 3 (1994)

handle is hein.journals/lvplr16 and id is 1 raw text is: The Liverpool Law Review Vol. XVI(1) [19941

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CHILDREN ACT 1989
The Rt. Hon. Sir Stephen Brown'
Until comparatively recently matrimonial and family law lan-
guished in the second division of legal practice. Many University
courses avoided it as a major subject and professional examinations
treated it as an optional subject. The law of property and contract
was more lucrative, criminal law was more exciting and the law of
tort or torts depending upon whether you were a Winfield man or a
Salmon man presented what was seen as a stimulating intellectual
challenge. However times have changed. The law of divorce and is-
sues concerning the family have achieved a high degree of promi-
nence. The care and welfare of children is pre-eminently a matter of
public concern. A succession of notorious cases of cruelty to children
together with the events which led to the Cleveland Enquiry in 1987
highlighted deficiencies in the law and procedure relating to the wel-
fare of children.
The Children Act 1989 received the Royal Assent on the 16th
November 1989. It had been introduced into the House of Lord at the
beginning of December 1988 by the Lord Chancellor. Its entire pas-
sage through both Houses of Parliament occupied less than twelve
months. When it returned to the House of Lords from the House of
Commons, it had virtually doubled in size. It was politically non-
controversial. The Act comprises 108 sections and 15 Schedules. It
comprehensively and radically reforms the law relating to children in
both the Public Law and the Private Law Spheres. It consolidates and
simplifies the pre-existing piecemeal legislation concerning children
in a practical and consistent form. It provides for family support as
well as for the care and protection of children. It applies common
principles of law to all proceedings concerning children whether in
the Public or Private Law field. It creates a common jurisdiction for
all levels of courts dealing with family matters. This includes the
Magistrates Courts, the County Court and the High Court. It marks a
new beginning in both the substantive law and the Court procedure

.   President, Family Division.

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