A Child's Voice: Why Children Should Have An Opportunity To Express Their Views In Court Proceedings

It's only logical to assume that a child should be given the opportunity to express their views wholeheartedly in children proceedings. However, the important question remains — just how much weight should the words of a child be allotted when making court decisions?

Freedom of expression is rarely a part of a children's rights advocacy, especially as a stand-alone issue. However, Child Rights International Network stresses that giving a child the right to freedom and expression as it can be a good marker for gauging their perceptions in any given society.

It is also true that whatever a child would speak, it would be a result of their feelings. Their feelings indeed do come in the way, especially in making court statements. Another problem to consider is that as to what extent of a child's opinion is really his own and how is it influenced externally.

To deal with this universal parenting dilemma, parents should try to figure out that when a child says they want something, they don't actually mean to need it. In a recent case, the court made a mandatory requirement for the child's point of view to be heard at all costs.

Courts, from now, will be giving children the opportunity to be heard. This rule has been in place across England and Wales. This includes a child's right to participate in an issue that pertains to him or her.

According to Mondaq, in this case, the Court of Appeal was to make a decision that related to enforcement of Romanian custody order that had been carried out impermissibly, without the Romanian court's direct or indirect inquiry of the wishes and feelings of the concerned child.

In this case, the child in question was the 8-year-old David whose father, at the time, was seeking to enforce the Romanian order so that the child is able to live with him. However, the Romanian proceedings didn't draw a conclusion for several years until recently, when a final conclusion was made.

Throughout the decision-making process, the Romanian court did not take into account David's point of view even though his father insisted that the child's feelings must be taken into account and assessed before a decision was to be made. However, David's mother objected to this.

In looking at whether or not to enforce the Romanian order, the English court made it clear that the fact that the mother opposed David being heard is neither here nor there. The obligation to hear the child falls on the court and not the parties.