The third edition of this unrivalled text provides an inexpensive and comprehensive explanation of the complex legal framework that surrounds child abuse, written for all professionals and agencies responsible for protecting children.

This third edition has been completely revised to reflect the extensive changes to the law and now takes account of:

• amendments to the Children Act 1989
• the introduction of the Human Rights Act 1998
• the Protection of Children Act 1999
• the Care Standards Act 2000
• the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000
• the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999
• the several enquiries arising from failures in the child protection scheme
• the establishment of CAFCASS

Christina Lyon, Queen Victoria Professor of Law, Director of the Centre for the Study of the Child, the Family and the Law, University of Liverpool, Solicitor of the Supreme Court and Recorder
With Contributions by: Cathy Cobley, Lecturer in Law, Cardiff Law School, University of Wales
Stephanie Petrie, Lecturer in Social Work, University of Liverpool
Caroline Reid, Barrister, 14 Gray's Inn Square

• Introduction: the national and international legal and social policy context
• Forms of child abuse
• Issues in child abuse
• The legal framework
• The identification, investigation and initiation of proceedings
• Inter-agency co-operation
• Civil proceedings: care and supervision order proceedings in the family proceedings court, the county court and the High
• Court and the making of secure accommodation orders
• Evidence and procedure in civil child abuse cases
• Criminal proceedings
  • Grounds of criminal liability
  • The pre-trial process
  • The criminal trial
  • Sentencing
  • The rights of victims and compensation
• Contact
• Representations procedures and judicial review
• Child abuse and child protection: into the next millennium

"this excellent text has been completely revised to take account of the numerous recent reforms ... essential for all those professionals and agencies responsible for protecting children, including judges, lawyers, guardians and social, health and education workers."
Childright

"All practitioners in public child care cases will find this book packed full of new insights and essential reading"
New Law Journal

"undoubtedly the most comprehensive and thorough book I have read on the subject of child abuse ... an absolutely essential text for lawyers and practitioners"
New Law Journal

"essential reference point for both lawyers and social work practitioners dealing with child abuse"
Adoption and Fostering

"comprehensive and very informative"
Children Panel Newsletter

"very useful for solicitors, social workers and others involved in the work of child protection"
Journal of the Law Society of Scotland

The protection of children from abuse is one of the most important features of our justice system. This book, which is now being published in its third edition, brings together in a thoughtful and comprehensive form a review of the relevant law and practice. In preparing this volume the writers have undertaken a very detailed revision and rewriting exercise, and have produced an up-to-date manual for practitioners across all disciplines.

This volume reflects the enormous changes in the landscape of child protection which have taken place over the last decade. This edition incorporates all the major recent reforms of laws relevant to child care, both civil and criminal. It takes into account the far-reaching impact of new legal developments such as the Human Rights Act 1998, as well as the impact of social developments in the new millennium.

Readers will find in the first chapters of the book a useful explanation of the socio-legal context of national and international child protection. In the following chapters, forms of, and issues surrounding, child abuse are discussed. The range of available civil and criminal proceedings are explored and their mechanisms detailed. A separate chapter is given to the important issues involved in inter-agency co-operation. This issue is highlighted in the final chapter, which touches on the outcomes of the Laming Inquiry. A new chapter has been devoted to the complex area of evidence in child abuse cases. The chapter on contact gives a careful survey of the difficult issues involved where children are in various types of care.

This book adopts an informative, cross-disciplinary approach. In my view it is essential reading for all those practising in this field, whether as judges, lawyers, guardians, social workers, education or health professionals.

Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, DBE
February 2003