Upper Tribunal gives guidance on children’s best interests in deprivation appeals

In a newly reported decision, the Upper Tribunal has given guidance on how the tribunal must consider the best interests of any children, where relevant to the appeal. The case is Mujaj (Deprivation: children’s best interests) Albania [2025] UKUT 349 (IAC).

The headnote states as follows:

In a deprivation appeal affecting children, a tribunal must approach the question of the children’s best interests in the following way:

(i) First, it must identify whether the best interests of any child were relevant to any issue in the appeal. In a deprivation decision, the section 55 duty is mainly relevant to the exercise of discretion and to the article 8 assessment. Kolicaj [2025] EWCA Civ 10 at [37];

(ii) Second, it must identify which of those issues are to be determined by the tribunal according to public law principles;

(iii) Third, it must identify all of the respondent’s reasons for her decision, whether in the initial deprivation decision or in a subsequent review or reconsideration, and take them into account where it is procedurally fair to do so;

(iv) Fourth, with regard to those issues that are to be determined according to public law principles, it must determine whether the respondent complied with her section 55 duty;

(v) Fifth, if she did not, it must then decide whether the error was material and requires the decision to be set aside; and

(vi) Sixth, when deciding the issues that are for the tribunal to decide for itself, it must make its own findings about the best interests of any relevant child and take them into account as a primary consideration in accordance with established principles. Here, whether or not the respondent complied with her section 55 duty is unlikely to be relevant.