No test of necessity to apply in refusing contact

There is no test of “necessity” as a basis for refusing contact, the Inner House has ruled.

In J v M [2016] CSIH 52; 2016 Fam LR 124 the father appealed against the decision of the sheriff principal to uphold the refusal of a contact order. The sheriff had found that the mother had reasonable grounds for suspecting that sexual abuse of the child had occurred while in the father’s care, and that in the light of ongoing hostility, restoring contact would only be likely to lead to further and increasing problems.

The court considered that the sheriff, while declining to make a finding in fact that the father had sexually abused the child, had nevertheless carried out a careful balancing act with the child’s welfare as the paramount consideration and accordingly there was no basis for an appellate court to intervene.