Section 49 of the Adoption Act 2010 and K (A Minor) and F (A Minor) and a case stated by Udará;s Úchtála na hÉireann

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judge: O'Donnell J.,Charleton J.,O'Malley J.
• Judgment Date: 03 March 2020
• Neutral Citation: [2020] IESCDET 33
• Date: 03 March 2020
• Court: Supreme Court
• Docket Number: S:AP:IE:2019:000226

IN THE MATTER OF SECTION 49 OF THE ADOPTION ACT 2010

AND IN THE MATTER OF K (A MINOR) AND F (A MINOR)

AND IN THE MATTER OF A CASE STATED BY UDARÁS ÚCHTÁLA NAhÉIREANN

AND

PP YY

AND

K (A MINOR)

XM ZW

AND

F (A MINOR)

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

AND

THE CHILD AND FAMILY AGENCY

NOTICE PARTIES

[2020] IESCDET 33

O'Donnell J.

Charleton J.

O'Malley J.

S:AP:IE:2019:000226

2018 No. 853 SS

THE SUPREME COURT

DETERMINATION

APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL TO WHICH ARTICLE 34.5.4° OF THE CONSTITUTION APPLIES

RESULT: The Court grants leave to Udaras Úctála na hÉireann/The Adoption Authority to appeal to this Court directly from the High Court.

REASONS GIVEN:

ORDER SOUGHT TO BE APPEALED

COURT: High Court

DATE OF JUDGMENT OR RULING: 27 th November, 2019

DATE OF ORDER: 11 th December, 2019

DATE OF PERFECTION OF ORDER: 18 th December, 2019

THE APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL WAS MADE ON 20 th December, 2019 AND WAS IN TIME.

General Considerations

1 The general principles applied by this Court in determining whether to grant or refuse leave to appeal, having regard to the criteria incorporated into the Constitution as a result of the Thirty-third Amendment, have now been considered in a number of determinations and are fully addressed in both a determination issued by a panel consisting of all of the members of this Court in B. S. v. Director of Public Prosecutions [2017] IESCDET 134 and in a unanimous judgment of a full Court delivered by O'Donnell J. in Price Waterhouse Coopers (A Firm) v. Quinn Insurance Ltd. (Under Administration) [2017] IESC 73, [2017] 3 IR 812. The additional criteria required to be met in order that the so-called ‘leapfrog appeal’ directly from the High Court to this Court can be permitted were addressed by a full panel of the court in Wansboro v. Director of Public Prosecutions [2017] IESCDET 115. It follows that it is unnecessary to revisit the new constitutional architecture for the purposes of this determination.

2 Furthermore, the application for leave filed and the respondent's notice are published, along with this determination (subject only to any redaction required by law) and it is therefore unnecessary to set out the position of the parties in any detail. No aspect of this ruling has precedential value as a matter of law.

Background

3 This application arises out of the transition measures set out in the Adoption Act 2010, implementing the Hague Convention on...