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Children have no right to speak to family judges

Date:17 FEB 2017
Despite promising to give children a greater voice in the Family Court the government still seems to be doing little on this front. The latest disappointment comes after government spokesmen confirmed that the Ministry of Justice never enacted a policy allowing children to speak to judges.

This information came to light after Researching Reform made a Freedom Of Information Request asking what progress had been made allowing children to speak to family judges about their cases. You can see the request and the Ministry of Justice’s full response here:

'Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request – 109623

Thank you for your request dated 12 January in which you asked for the following 
information from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ): 

In 2014 the government pledged to make sure that children as young as ten involved 
in Family Court proceedings could have access to judges in order to share their 
wishes and feelings about their case. 
  • How was this pledge implemented in practice (policy documents/judicial 
  • guidelines/practice directions etc)? 
  • How many judges or...

Read the full article here.