The voice of the child in private law proceedings: time to rethink the approach

Based on a presentation to the Court Service Family Law Seminar in October 2009, this article focuses on the needs of those children and young people caught up in the stresses of private law disputes, drawing on the research findings of the 10 year (1996-2006) Cardiff University Children in Divorce Research Programme. The author asserts that in the present economic crisis most of these children will receive less priority than those children subject to public law proceedings, commenting that in the context of the coming election and potential cuts in public expenditure it is possible that in future the government may expect families themselves to pay for their involvement with the family justice system in private family law proceedings. The article covers the consequences for the family justice system of the aftermath of recession, key messages from the Cardiff Children in Divorce Research Programme, how to accommodate the messages for reform which emerged from the research interviews with children and their parents, and the challenge for the recently announced comprehensive review of the family justice system