Implementing Children’s Rights in All Family Court Cases
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child states that the “right of all children [under 18] to be heard and taken seriously constitutes one of the fundamental values of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child”. Obtaining children’s views and preferences in court processes is now common in many cases, but the right to do so can be marginalized for children in family violence and or parental alienation cases. In addition, more attention has been paid to hearing children’s voices generally, than it has to ensuring that those views are taken seriously and given due weight in accordance with the children’s ages and maturity. This webinar will consider the issue of how children’s rights in all family law court proceedings can be implemented effectively, with the involvement of independent legal representation for children, using the Eight Child Rights Safeguards/Guarantees which the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child states are necessary to do so.
The Honourable Donna J. Martinson, Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Retired
The Honourable Judge Rose Raven, Senior judge of the BC Provincial Court
Phyllis Kenney, Q.C., a Vancouver lawyer with extensive experience in family law and child rights.
Lauren Irvine
Dr. Margaret Jackson, Professor Emerita and Director of the FREDA Centre at SFU.
