108Rules: appointment of curators ad litem and reporting officers
(1)In the case of an application for a relevant order in relation to a child, rules of court must provide for the appointment, in such cases as are prescribed by the rules—
(a)of a person to act as curator ad litem of the child on the hearing of the application, with the duty of safeguarding the interests of the child in such manner as may be so prescribed,
(b)of a person to act as reporting officer for the purpose of witnessing agreements to adoption and performing such other duties as may be so prescribed.
(2)Rules may in particular make provision—
(a)enabling the reporting officer to be appointed before the application is made,
(b)enabling the court to appoint the same person to be curator ad litem and reporting officer.
(3)Rules may not make provision for—
(a)the appointment of a person who is employed by an adoption agency which has placed a child for adoption to act as curator ad litem or reporting officer for the purposes of an application for an adoption order in respect of the child,
(b)the appointment of a person who is employed by a local authority which is making (or has made) an application for a permanence order to act as curator ad litem or reporting officer for the purposes of the application.
(4)A relevant order means—
(a)an adoption order,
(b)a permanence order, or
(c)an order under section 59.