Sookhan (Respondent) v The Children’s Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (Appellant) (Trinidad and Tobago)

Case summary

Case ID

JCPC/2021/0063

Jurisdiction

Trinidad and Tobago

Parties

Appellant(s)

The Children's Authority of Trinidad and Tobago

Respondent(s)

Ena Sookhan

Issue

Did the Court of Appeal of Trinidad and Tobago wrongly grant Ms Sookhan permission to bring her claim for judicial review, insofar as her claim (1) was brought too late, (2) would cause substantial prejudice to the child with which it is concerned, and/or (3) is without merit?

Facts

The respondent, Ms Sookhan, is a registered nurse. In October 2015, a young child ("AB") was abandoned by his biological parents at the hospital at which Ms Sookhan worked. AB spent over a year at the hospital, throughout which time Ms Sookhan cared for him.In November 2016, Ms Sookhan applied to the appellant, the Children’s Authority of Trinidad and Tobago ("the Authority"), to adopt AB. On 13 June 2019, the Authority informed Ms Sookhan that her application form had not been submitted correctly and that AB had since been matched with prospective adoptive parents.Ms Sookhan sought to challenge the Authority’s decision not to consider her application to adopt AB, by way of a claim for judicial review. At first instance, the High Court of Trinidad and Tobago refused Ms Sookhan permission to bring her claim, on the basis that it was unarguable. Ms Sookhan then appealed, successfully, to the Court of Appeal of Trinidad and Tobago, which decided that Ms Sookhan had an arguable claim that the Authority had acted in a manner which was procedurally unfair.

Date of issue

20 July 2021

Judgment details

Judgment date

1 November 2021

Neutral citation

[2021] UKPC 29

Judgment links

Appeal

Justices

Lord Briggs

Lady Arden

Lord Stephens

Hearing dates

Start date

7 October 2021

End date

7 October 2021

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