A panel of independent guardians to represent children in court has been set up, but it does not include a social worker who has been a litigation guardian and campaigner for children’s rights since 2014.

Kathy Lynn Simmons, the Attorney-General and the minister responsible for the Deparment of Child and Family Services, announced yesterday that a panel of five “qualified, certified and experienced social workers” had been established.

Ms Simmons added: “The number of persons on the panel may increase, in due course, based on resource and service requirements.”

The announcement came after it was revealed that Tiffanne Thomas had been excluded at a sitting of the Supreme Court last month.

Ms Thomas was in court to make an application to withdraw her services as a litigation guardian, because she has not been paid for her work for children involved in legal proceedings.

Mark Diel, who represented Ms Thomas, said her exclusion from the panel was “incomprehensible”.

Mr Diel said: “This means, going forward, that children are being deprived of the most experienced person to serve in that role.”

Ms Simmons did not respond to a request for a list of panel members.

Mr Diel said he would write to Ms Simmons to ask about the absence of Ms Thomas from the panel and warned he “may have to issue proceedings for judicial review”.

He added: “She is arguably the most experienced person, in that field, on the island. Justice [Nicole] Stoneham was at pains to state how pleased she was with the work Tiffanne has provided the courts. Quite why the minister has seen fit not to include this person, simply because the Government have not paid her for a number of years, is not clear.”

The existence of the panel came up during a hearing on November 22, before Justice Stoneham, when the court ordered that Ms Thomas should be granted costs of $60 per hour for her time in the courts.

Mr Diel said the order would be set off against Ms Thomas’s claim for fees “in due course”.

He added: “During the hearing, we were informed by counsel for the Attorney-General, that there is a panel of litigation guardians. We have not seen it and do not know who it comprises. So there is the question of how the court is supposed to select a litigation guardian when there might be an issue of conflict ­— not least it appears that Tiffanne Thomas is not on the list.”

Mr Diel said, under the panel scheme, the courts would be given a list of approved litigation guardians to select from when one was needed. The fight to secure formal legal representation for children in court dates back to a legal challenge in September 2017 brought by the Human Rights Commission against the Government.

Last night, Martha Dismont, the executive director at the Family Centre, said that the charity had met last year with the Attorney-General’s office, and representatives from the Department of Child and Family Services, and agreed to collaborate on the creation of a panel of litigation guardians.

Ms Dismont said: “It was agreed in that meeting that charities would be able to work with DCFS to come up with not only the panel, but the criteria for establishing it.

“We would like to see the panel and ensure that it is made of individuals who are independent from the Government. We have yet to be involved in that process.”