Can the mother oppose a parental responsibility order?

The mother should be given a chance to put forward her reasons why she has refused to allow parental responsibility and why she does not think that the courts should make the order. It is then left to the court to make a decision as to whether or not it will make the parental responsibility order.

Courts are often willing to make parental responsibility orders, but sometimes they refuse, such as the following cases:

• The courts decided that giving the father parental responsibility would put stress on the mother and undermine her ability to care for her child who had multiple handicaps and special needs (Re M (Contact: Parental Responsibility) [2001])
• The father had injured his child and another child, and displayed cruel behaviour towards them both (Re H (Parental Responsibility) [1998])
• The father was found to be in possession of obscene photographs of children (Re P (Parental Responsibility) [1998])
• The father was serving a long term prison sentence for a number of robbery offences (Re P (Parental Responsibility) [1997])

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