The voice of the child: A legal voice?

This article presents a legal analysis of the 'voice of the child' in famil y proceedings, both public and private. The evaluation is thus confined to civil law and is not concerned with young offenders within the criminal jus tice system. There have been significant legislative developments in the la st decade arising from UK, European, and UN provisions. The article assesse s the strengths and weaknesses of the rights to representation of children in these legal proceedings and in particular outlines the weaknesses in the proceedings of 'private' law about children. Making recommendations for fu ture reform, the article argues that consistent implementation of the provi sions requires greater attention to be paid to direct representation and ad vocacy for the child's views, in contrast to adult presentation of their ow n views about the best interests of the child.