ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the machinery that has been put in place in England and Wales to hear appeals from those individuals who have been prohibited from working with children. In weighing the policy issues, it is argued here that proportionality and balance must be a key link to ensure that the correct approach is taken and thus that possibly conflicting policy considerations are placed in the appropriate balance. Indeed, case law prior to the introduction of statutory safeguards, when only a non-statutory framework was in place, gave balance a central position. The chapter considers the human rights issues that are raised by this new jurisdiction. It is true to say that the Act itself is a response in a sense to the Human Rights Act 1998, in the need to ensure that administrative decision making is compliant with the European Convention. An independent Children's Commissioner has been established in Wales.
