Child’s right to representation

Mabon v Mabon and others CA TLR 2 June

The courts must, in the case of articulate teenagers, accept that the rights to freedom of expression and participation in family life outweigh the paternalistic judgement of welfare. There was a growing acknowledgement of the autonomy and consequential rights of children. In our system a tandem model for the representation of children who were parties to family proceedings had been traditionally adopted. First, the court appointed a guardian who instructed a specialist family solicitor who usually instructed a specialist family barrister. That was a luxury model and was the envy of many other jurisdictions. However, its overall approach was essentially paternalistic.