Pre-Hearing Panels
A Pre-Hearing Panel can be arranged to consider certain preliminary issues in advance of a Children’s Hearing.
- whether to deem someone to be a relevant person;
- whether an individual currently deemed to be a relevant person should continue to be so deemed (be “undeemed”);
- whether to excuse a child or young person or relevant person from attending the Children’s Hearing;
- whether it is likely the Children’s Hearing will consider making a Compulsory Supervision Order with secure accommodation authorisation.
A Pre-Hearing panel arranged for any of the above purposes may:
- appoint a safeguarder;
- identify that the child or a relevant person requires legal representation to be able to participate effectively in the hearing and that the child or relevant person will be unlikely to arrange this for themselves.
The following people have a right, but not a duty, to attend the Pre-Hearing Panel: the child or young person, relevant persons, safeguarder, any person who appears to the reporter to have (or recently have had) significant involvement in the upbringing of the child, and any person who has requested to be deemed to be a relevant person. They may provide reports to the Pre-Hearing Panel.
The Pre-Hearing panel must take place before the day of the Children’s Hearing. Where this is not practicable, the Children’s Hearing must consider the Pre-Hearing panel matters at the beginning of the Children’s Hearing.
Children and young people have the right to have their views considered at a Pre-Hearing Panel whether they attend or are excused.