Children's wishes, children's burdens

Abstract

The authors are both practising family court welfare officers of more than ten years' standing, who draw on their experience of reporting to courts in contested private law applications for s.8 orders under the Children Act 1989. Taking the guiding principles of the Act as their starting-point they seek to locate the child's place within such proceedings.

They discuss the concept of parental responsibility and give their views on the responsibilities of the court, court welfare officer and legal representative, as well as reflecting upon the rights and responsibilities of the child within those interrelationships.

Proposing that ascertaining the wishes and feelings of the child is ‘no simple matter’, Cantwell and Scott make detailed reference to their own case material. They also link their commentary to some of the research findings in relation to children whose parents' separation is conflictual

Key Words:

• children
• welfare officers
• reports
• wishes
• feelings