Three judges have ruled that courts should have the power to check on whether social workers are properly carrying out plans for children in care.

The Appeal Court this week decided that the courts have a duty under the Human Rights Act to ensure rights guaranteed by the act are not infringed.

The new ruling by Lords Justices Thorpe and Sedley and Lady Justice Hale, effectively rewrites the 1989 Children Act, says a report in The Guardian.

Lord Justice Sedley said in the controversial ruling: "that in the light of the Human Rights Act 1998 a duty rests upon the local authority to return to court if a significant element in the care plan has failed or is threatening to fail".

The Department of Health is arguing that the court exceeded its powers in writing a new provision into the Children Act but the judges refused the department permission to appeal to the House of Lords. However the law lords are almost certain to agree to hear an appeal, says the paper.

The ruling was made in two test cases involving Bedfordshire social services and Torbay social services.

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