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Family Law Proceedings and the Child's Right to be Heard in A ustralia, the U nited K ingdom, N ew Z ealand, and C anada
Author(s) -
Fernando Michelle
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
family court review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.171
H-Index - 4
eISSN - 1744-1617
pISSN - 1531-2445
DOI - 10.1111/fcre.12069
Subject(s) - family law , active listening , jurisdiction , law , consistency (knowledge bases) , kingdom , political science , family court , common law , child protection , strengths and weaknesses , sociology , psychology , social psychology , paleontology , geometry , mathematics , communication , biology
This article examines the child's right to be heard in family law proceedings in four international jurisdictions, comparing laws, practices, and attitudes relating to children's participation. It critiques the methods by which children's views are heard and discusses the significant variations in each country's approach to listening to children. The article discusses each system's strengths and weaknesses in promoting children's right to be heard, reviewing international literature and highlighting recent initiatives to promote children's participation, such as the 2010 U nited K ingdom guidelines for judges meeting with children. The article concludes that there is little consistency in how children's voices are heard in family law matters internationally. One possible explanation is that each jurisdiction differs in its culture of and attitude toward children's rights. Keypoints Children's views in family law matters Comparative analysis of law and practice in Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Canada Child's right to be heard