In 1989 a law was passed that forces judges to start by assuming it’s in the child’s best interests to spend time with both parents – but research shows that can leave kids at risk of harm
Children will be protected from abusive parents under Labour plans to fix the law after years of neglect under the Tories.
In 1989 a law was passed that forces judges to start by assuming it’s in the child’s best interests to spend time with both parents – but research shows that can leave kids at risk of harm.
While the current law contains safeguards that allow involvement to be restricted where it harms a child’s welfare, the Government is scrapping this provision and legislating through the Courts and Tribunal Bill to put the welfare of kids first.
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The move was long campaigned for by Claire Throssell in memory of her two children, Jack, 12, and Paul, 9, who were both killed by their father, despite her warnings that he was a danger to them. The change means the courts will no longer start from an assumption that parental involvement is always in a child’s best interest, and instead act solely on the child’s best interests.
If parents are a threat to their child’s safety, they should expect to have their involvement restricted, with orders such as supervised contact, involvement limited to written communication, or with no involvement at all. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said: “Every child deserves to be safe, every victim deserves to be heard, and every family deserves a justice system they can trust. We need to make sure that what happened to Claire and her children never happens again.”
Ms Throssell, MBE, Women’s Aid Ambassador said: “Seeing that the presumption of parental contact will finally be repealed, and in the memory of my sons, Jack and Paul, is deeply meaningful. No child should have to hold out a hand for help in darkness, saying that they were hurt by someone who was meant to protect them.No parents should have to hold their children as they die, from the abuse of a perpetrator, as I did eleven years ago.”