But the significance to the individual child of knowing the whole truth cannot, of itself, be a main purpose of the investigation.
(ii) The likely cost to public funds can extend to the expenditure of court resources and their diversion from other cases.(iii) The time that the investigation will take allows the court to take account of the nature of the evidence. For example, an incident that has been recorded electronically may be swifter to prove than one that relies on contested witness evidence or circumstantial argument.(iv) The evidential result relates only to the case before the court.
- Approved Judgment
- Mr Justice Mostyn:
- General legal principles
- The family law authorities
- consequence
- Not infrequently, a finding in relation to one child will have implications for the welfare of other children
- only
- underlined
- But the significance to the individual child of knowing the whole truth cannot, of itself, be a main purpose of the investigation.
- Similarly, the public interest in the identification of perpetrators of child abuse cannot, of itself, be such a purpose.
- necessary
- This means that the court must be satisfied that the findings, if made, would produce something of importance for the welfare decision.”
- The facts of this case
- Decision