Power of court to appoint guardian for child having no parent etc.E+W
5(1)Where a child has no parent, no guardian of the person, and no other person having parental rights with respect to him, the court, on the application of any person, may, if it thinks fit, appoint the applicant to be the guardian of the child.
(2)A court may entertain an application under this section to appoint a guardian of a child notwithstanding that parental rights and duties with respect to the child are vested in a local authority or a voluntary organisation by virtue of a resolution under section 3 or 64 of the M1Child Care Act 1980.
(3)Where the father and mother of a child were not married to each other at the time of his birth, subsection (1) of this section shall have effect as if for the words “no parent” there were substituted the words “ no mother, no father satisfying the requirements of section 3(4) of this Act ”.