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Safeguarding Children's Welfare in Non‐Contentious Divorce: Towards a New Conception of the Legal Process?
Author(s) -
Douglas Gillian,
Murch Mervyn,
Scanlan Lesley,
Perry Alison
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
the modern law review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.37
H-Index - 22
eISSN - 1468-2230
pISSN - 0026-7961
DOI - 10.1111/1468-2230.00258
Subject(s) - safeguarding , welfare , feeling , process (computing) , focus (optics) , political science , law and economics , law , public relations , business , sociology , psychology , social psychology , computer science , medicine , nursing , optics , physics , operating system
This article considers the working of the current procedure intended to ensure the welfare of children when their parents divorce but are not seeking any orders relating to them. It shows that the process is ineffective in safeguarding children's welfare and is not geared to ensuring that their wishes and feelings are taken into account. It argues that the focus of policy should shift away from assuming that the legal system can handle the problems of divorce, towards using the legal process as a point of contact through which families can be offered the full range of services they may need during relationship breakdown.