ABSTRACT
Parental responsibility (PR) is ‘all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and his property’ (CA 1989, s 3(1)). It is central to the concept that a person with PR may not surrender or transfer any part of that responsibility (s 2(9)). It may, however, be wholly or partly delegated (eg, to a child’s school or to the local authority), or qualified or curtailed (eg, as between the parents of the child either informally or by order of the court, ie, by a s 8 order) and one parent can in routine matters act independently, but not, obviously, in relation to important, irreversible decisions (see CA 1989, s 2(7) and Re J (Specific Issue Order: Circumcision) [1999] 2 FLR 678, discussed further in Chapter 25).
