Incorporation of Children’s Views in Legal Decisions in the UK

Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2011 in the subject Law - Civil / Private / Family Law / Law of Succession, grade: A, University of Manchester (School of Law), course: Child Law, language: English, abstract: This paper will assess how well children’s views are incorporated into child law decisions in England and Wales, specifically when a court is considering a care order, and whether there is any room for improvement. Allowing children to express their views over decisions which greatly affect them is a principle that has grown substantially in the last several decades. However, the extent to which children can influence and participate in civil cases has been controversial. Both sociologists and legal scholars have been concerned whether allowing a child to articulate their views is truly in their best interest. Some believe that children cannot comprehend the importance of such life-altering decisions; whilst others argue that if children’s views were followed, it would challenge parental decisions and choices.