Mission Statement

To assist the Family Court in situations related to care and custody of minors and access issues in cases of separation, by providing professional assessments and recommendations through the expertise of a team of professionals who are appointed by APPOGG.

The Service

APPOGG Court Services was set up in order to assist the Family Court in decisions relating to the care and custody of children. In situations deemed appropriate by the Judge of the Family Court, a social worker is appointed to prepare a court report. Following an assessment the social worker prepares a social report giving recommendations relating to care and custody of minors or on other issues as the Family Court may deem appropriate.

In cases of separation and co-habitation, Court Services may be appointed by the Family Court to investigate allegations of abuse on minors.  As part of the investigation, Court Experts will interview the parents and children as well as other professional who are or have been in contact with the family.  The Court Expert will draw up his/her own recommendations, taking into consideration the feedback from all the parties involved.  The Court Expert acts independently from other professionals and the final recommendation reflects entirely his/her professional judgement as an expert of the Court. 

The service is carried out by contracted professionals and supervised by APPOGG personnel.  Being court appointed, such a service entails a court tarriff.

The following are the mentioned Court Tarriffs:

- Court Reports - 232.94 Euros (Lm100)

- Court Monitoring - 6.99 Euros (Lm3) per hour and 116.47 Euros (Lm50) when Family Court also asks for a Monitoring Report

- Psychological Assessments / Therapy and Family Therapy - 27.95 Euros (Lm12) per session and 116.47 Euros (Lm50) when Family Court also asks for a Psychological Report

 Aims and Objectives

To assist the Family Court Judges / Magistrates in decisions relating to the Care & Custody, and/or Access of children, in an impartial and objective way.  In doing so, the service aims at:

- Ensuring that the children's views are made known to the court through representations made by the appointed Court Expert;

- Ensuring that the children's interests are given paramount importance above all other interests;

- Ensuring that children's rights are safeguarded and promoted during Court proceedings.