Hearing Children in Proceedings – What We Can Learn from Global Practice
(2016) 26 Seen and Heard 42
11 Pages Posted: 12 Apr 2016
Date Written: April 1, 2016
Abstract
It is now widely recognised that children have a right to be heard in family proceedings. This right is enshrined in Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and is mirrored in domestic legislation throughout the world. This article provides analysis of various aspects of hearing children in family proceedings around the world, based on research conducted for the purposes of a forthcoming book on this theme. The relevance for practice in England and Wales is considered. Some diverse models are examined – children’s hearings in Scotland where it is assumed children themselves will be present, New Zealand where children can instruct a lawyer and simultaneously have a legal representative for their best interests, and Israel, where children are now to be offered the right to be heard in all family law cases. It is also argued, however, that the matter of how weight should be attributed to children’s views has remained a very vague and challenging concept and that this lack of clarity threatens the very essence of Article 12.
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