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Abstract
This article analyses the role played by panel members in the Scottish Children's Hearings System. In particular, the article focuses on the ways in which panel members attempts to involve children in the decision‐making process by seeking their views. Section 46 of Part II of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 comes in for particular attention in this regard as it empowers panel members to clear the room in order to speak privately with the child. Based on interviews with 40 panel members, the article considers the use of discretion in relation to confidentiality and the general level of confidence in current policy given that the section, as currently drafted, requires disclosure to excluded parties of the substance of what has been said in their absence. The authors outline various ways in which panel members negotiate the interpretation of ‘substance’ and reveal significant areas of discomfort relating to their current practice and examine the Scottish Executive's proposals for reform.
Notes
1. The authors wish to thank Claire McDiarmid, Kay Tisdall and Janice McGhee for their insightful comments on a draft version of this article. The text as it stands, however, is the author's sole responsibility. We would also like to thank the editor and reviewers for their support and assistance and the Annenberg Foundation and the British Academy for funding the field research on which this article is based.
2. In addition to the above, the Scottish data includes interviews with 25 safeguarders, 25 social workers, 25 parents and 67 children who did not have experience of the hearings system.
3. This has resulted in legislation such as the Anti‐social Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 that aims to curb anti‐social behaviour through the mechanism of anti‐social behaviour orders granted by courts.