Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian v BWA

The Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian sought to appeal against a decision of the Children and Young People (Child Protection) Tribunal which had found that BWA was not disqualified from holding a blue card, which permitted him to be employed in regulated work involving children. BWA had been charged with murder in 1995, and convicted of manslaughter on the ground of provocation. The conviction was not specified as a disqualifying offence under the relevant Act. The Commission argued that the grant of the blue card would not be in the best interests of children, and that BWA's case was an "exceptional case" under section 221(2) of the Act.

The Tribunal had reconstitution after the first day's hearing, and BWA objected to this on the basis that the President did not have the power to appoint the new member. The Tribunal rejected this objection and proceeded to hear the matter. The Tribunal's decision was partly based on the demeanour of witnesses, but only one member had seen these witnesses. This was an error, and it was likely to have affected the outcome of the case. The Commission argued that this was a ground for leave to appeal.

The appeal was allowed, but the appeal itself was dismissed. The court found that the error in the Tribunal's procedure was unlikely to have affected the outcome of the case, and therefore there was no miscarriage of justice. The court also found that the Commission had not shown that the grant of the blue card would not be in the best interests of children, and that BWA's case was not an "exceptional case" under the Act. Finally, the court made an order prohibiting the publication of any information that would identify BWA or his son.