ABSTRACT
The Children Act 1989 (the ‘Children Act’) empowers the court to make certain orders of its own volition in ‘family proceedings’, defined in s 8(3) and s 105 of the Children Act as amended by subsequent legislation. There is a ‘menu’ of orders available in family proceedings (see below, Figure 8) from which the court may choose, subject to the principles of s 1 of the Children Act. Note that the court should make no order unless it is necessary for the welfare of the child, see Chapter 2. The court cannot, however, intervene in family proceedings to impose orders for care, supervision, secure accommodation, emergency protection or child assessment.
