Society calls for strengthened children's rights in Act review
Rights of children in Scotland should be strengthened to ensure their views are heard, according to the Law Society of Scotland.
In its response to the Scottish Government consultation on the review of part 1 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995, the Society urges that the current child-centred approach is retained and that further steps are taken, including clarifying contact rights of siblings and ensuring that contact centres are properly funded and regulated.
It points out that there is a need to clarify whether siblings, including those under 16, can apply for contact with a child – currently this gives rise to controversy because a contact order relates only to "parental rights and responsibilities". The Society calls this is "a major deficit in our system", and amending the current legislation to expressly allow such applications "would be a significant improvement".
For contact centres, which work with vulnerable children often in challenging circumstances, the Society believes it is appropriate that there should be some level of regulation, while recognising that they rely on volunteers to support them, along with adequate funding to ensure they are safe, clean and well run.
Morag Driscoll, convener of the Society's Family Law Committee, commented: "Scotland’s Children’s Act is more than 20 years old and it’s right that there is a review at this stage. Families themselves and the way we view children and their rights have changed over the past two decades and it would be helpful for our legislation to reflect those changes.
"Our current law already takes a child-centred approach and the review presents an opportunity to strengthen this and ensure that children’s rights are being respected and implemented in practice. We need to ensure that a child’s viewpoint can continue to be heard and is taken into account in decision making. It will be important to retain a range of options which recognise the child’s needs and circumstances in any particular case and which allow the child to either speak directly to the judge or sheriff in court or via their welfare reporter or support worker in a less intimidating environment."