Emergency protection orders: duration CA 1989 s.45
EPO lasts max 8 days, extendable once by up to 7 days if significant harm risk. No appeal against making/extension/discharge except in limited cases.
An emergency protection order shall have effect for such period, not exceeding eight days, as may be specified in the order. Where— the court making an emergency protection order would, but for this subsection, specify a period of eight days as the period for which the order is to have effect; but the last of those eight days is a public holiday (that is to say, Christmas Day, Good Friday, a bank holiday or a Sunday), the court may specify a period which ends at noon on the first later day which is not such a holiday. Where an emergency protection order is made on an application under section 46(7), the period of eight days mentioned in subsection (1) shall begin with the first day on which the child was taken into police protection under section 46. Any person who— has parental responsibility for a child as the result of an emergency protection order; and is entitled to apply for a care order with respect to the child, may apply to the court for the period during which the emergency protection order is to have effect to be extended. On an application under subsection (4) the court may extend the period during which the order is to have effect by such period, not exceeding seven days, as it thinks fit, but may do so only if it has reasonable cause to believe that the child concerned is likely to suffer significant harm if the order is not extended. An emergency protection order may only be extended once. Regardless of any enactment or rule of law which would otherwise prevent it from doing so, a court hearing an application for, or with respect to, an emergency protection order may take account of— any statement contained in any report made to the court in the course of, or in connection with, the hearing; or any evidence given during the hearing, which is, in the opinion of the court, relevant to the application. Any of the following may apply to the court for an emergency protection order to be discharged— the child; a parent of his; any person who is not a parent of his but who has parental responsibility for him; or any person with whom he was living immediately before the making of the order. On the application of a person who is not entitled to apply for the order to be discharged, but who is a person to whom an exclusion requirement contained in the order applies, an emergency protection order may be varied or discharged by the court in so far as it imposes the exclusion requirement. Where a power of arrest has been attached to an exclusion requirement of an emergency protection order, the court may, on the application of any person entitled to apply for the discharge of the order so far as it imposes the exclusion requirement, vary or discharge the order in so far as it confers a power of arrest (whether or not any application has been made to vary or discharge any other provision of the order). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No appeal may be made against— the making of, or refusal to make, an emergency protection order; the extension of, or refusal to extend, the period during which such an order is to have effect; the discharge of, or refusal to discharge, such an order; or the giving of, or refusal to give, any direction in connection with such an order. Subsection (8) does not apply— where the person who would otherwise be entitled to apply for the emergency protection order to be discharged— was given notice (in accordance with rules of court) of the hearing at which the order was made; and was present at that hearing; or to any emergency protection order the effective period of which has been extended under subsection (5). A court making an emergency protection order may direct that the applicant may, in exercising any powers which he has by virtue of the order, be accompanied by a registered medical practitioner, registered nurse or registered midwife , if he so chooses. The reference in subsection (12) to a registered midwife is to such a midwife who is also registered in the Specialist Community Public Health Nurses' Part of the register maintained under article 5 of the Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001.
Text in force at .
Source: legislation.gov.uk — The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk), reproduced under licence Open Government Licence v3.0.
What it actually says
An emergency protection order lasts for up to eight days, as the court decides. If the eighth day falls on a public holiday (Christmas Day, Good Friday, a bank holiday or a Sunday), the court can end the order at noon on the next day that is not a holiday. When the order is made after the police have already taken the child into protection under section 46, the eight days start from the day the child was first taken by the police.
The order can be extended only once, by up to seven more days, but only if the court has reasonable cause to believe the child is likely to suffer significant harm without the extension. Anyone who has parental responsibility because of the order and can apply for a care order may ask for an extension.
Certain people can apply to have the order discharged: the child, a parent, anyone else with parental responsibility, or someone the child was living with just before the order was made. If the order contains an exclusion requirement, the person excluded can apply to vary or discharge that part, and if a power of arrest is attached, that can also be challenged.
No appeal is allowed against making, refusing, extending, refusing to extend, discharging, refusing to discharge, or giving any direction about an emergency protection order. However, this ban does not apply if the person who would otherwise be entitled to apply for discharge was given notice of the hearing and was present, or if the order has already been extended.
When it applies
- Social workers obtain an emergency protection order after finding a child alone and unsupervised for days.
- Police remove a child from a home where there is domestic violence and apply for an emergency protection order.
- A parent applies for an emergency protection order to prevent the other parent from removing the child from the country.
- A local authority applies for an emergency protection order because of suspected physical abuse.
- A child is taken into police protection under section 46 and the police then apply for an emergency protection order to extend the protection.
What this section does not say
- Does not cover the initial application for an emergency protection order (see section 44).
- Does not cover the power to include an exclusion requirement in the order (see section 44a).
- Does not cover the local authority's duty to investigate (see section 47).
- Does not cover the procedure for challenging a care order (see section 39).
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This page reproduces the text of CA 1989 s. 45 in force at the date shown and explains it in general terms. It is not legal advice and takes no account of the circumstances of your case, which can change the answer completely. For a live dispute, for limitation periods, and before taking any step in court, consult a qualified lawyer in England and Wales.