The Voice of the Child
Under the Welfare Checklist any Court, making a decision about a child, must ensure that the child's own wishes are taken into account. In child care cases, this is done through an independent solicitor and a Children's Guardian, but in disputes between parents, the only source of information will be the Court Welfare Officer preparing a report.
There are proposals for change, but at the moment the law still leaves the parents to speak for their child, and parents can often misunderstand what the child says. Children do tend to say what they think adults want to hear, and, yes, they are children, and who can blame them for not understanding the implications of what they say?
In contact disputes for example, each parent may claim to speak for the child, saying that he or she does or does not want to see the absent parent. Research shows that most children, if asked about such a subject, say they just want their parents to stop arguing and be nice to one another. This is difficult territory for all concerned, but most of all for the child. At the end of the day, a judge will decide what appears to be in that child's best interests, free from concern about what may appear fair to the adults concerned.