Application for parenting orders — safety concerns — welfare and best interests of child — HIV status — HIV/AIDS – historic drug use — Care of Children Act 2004, ss 4, 5, 5A, 6 & 50. This hearing was to determine an application by the mother of a child for parenting orders in her favour. The child, who was six weeks away from turning 16, had been living in the care of his uncle in a different location to his mother. He had previously been in the care of his grandparents and there was an existing parenting order in their favour. In considering an application for a parenting order a court must take into consideration the paramountcy principle of the welfare and best interests of the child, the principles relating to the welfare and best interests, and the child's views. The applicant submitted that there were concerns around violence and neglect in the grandparents' and uncle's care, based on several incidents. She also submitted that the child was not safe in his uncle's care because of the uncle's HIV status and his historic drug use. The Judge considered the evidence on the incidents, and determined that they were not sufficiently serious to conclude that the child was unsafe in either his grandparents' or his uncle's care. On the issue of the uncle's HIV status the Judge considered expert evidence which stated that the likelihood of transmission was low and concluded that there was no risk to the child's safety. The uncle had also been open and candid about his historic drug use and this posed no risk to the child either. Given that the child was almost 16, at which time any parenting order would cease to operate, and that the child's view was that he was strongly opposed to returning to live with his mother and wished to remain living with his uncle, the Judge declined to grant a parenting order in the applicant's favour. The Judge discharged the parenting order in favour of the grandparents and made an order that the child was to remain in the day-to-day care of his uncle, with a condition that the child have contact with his mother at specified times. The parenting order also stipulated that the child was not to be left alone overnight for longer than 24 hours, that he was not to be exposed to conflict between the adults, and that the adults were not to make disparaging comments about each other in front of the child. Judgment Date: 16 March 2021. * * * Note: names have been changed to comply with legal requirements. * * *