Failure to implement law deprives children of voice in court

CHILDREN have no voice in the majority of court cases because the Government has failed to implement a law passed five years ago, a family law expert said yesterday.

This is in breach of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that every child has a right to be represented in court proceedings. The only way a child's voice can be heard here in access and custody cases is if a psychologist or social worker appointed by the court carries out an independent assessment of their best interests, Rosemary Horgan said. But the Government has failed to implement two sections of the 1997 Children's Act that would allow a court to seek these independent reports, Ms Horgan said.

This is particularly worrying in cases of domestic violence because the person who is excluded from the home may want access to the child, Ms Horgan added. "But how can a judge tell if this is in the best interest of a child if they have no voice in court," Ms Horgan asked. She told a major conference on Irish law in Cork that most people cannot afford to pay for procuring these professional reports, so only the very wealthy or those with free legal aid have access to these assessments.

But if Section 26 and 28 of the Children's Act were signed into law by the minister for justice, then the courts could order these independent reports for all children, Ms Horgan said.

She told the conference organised by UCC Law Society that it was inevitable that our procedures will be called into question by the European Court of Human Rights unless the Government acts quickly to rectify this. Germany, which has a far more sophisticated family law system, was found to be in breach on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child because its courts did not have independent reports on the child's best welfare.

The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) called on the minister to implement the law as soon as possible. The National Children's Office is currently drawing up a code of practice on how these independent reports on children should be carried out by guardians ad litem appointed by the court these are either social workers or psychologists.

A Justice Department spokesman said the minister could not implement the two outstanding sections of the 1997 Children's Act until the appointment of guardians ad litem had been sorted out.

"There are financial and staffing implications for health boards and as soon as these are resolved the system will go ahead," a department spokesman added.