CHILDREN WITHOUT A SATISFACTORY HOME—A GAP FAMILY LAW MUST FILL
| Author | O. M. Stone |
| Published date | 01 November 1970 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1970.tb01302.x |
| Date | 01 November 1970 |
CHILDREN WITHOUT A SATISFACTORY
HOMELA GAP FAMILY LAW MUST FILL
PROVI~ION
for the upbringing of a child deprived
for
one reason
or
another of a satisfactory family situation is one
of
the most
intradable problems
of
family law, and one in which the social
interest is evident. The Achilles’ heel of
this
part
of
the law
(and one of the most cogent justifications
for
the family as a
social institution) is that
so
far
no
satisfactory substitute seems in
sight for the reasonably functioning family, in its role of providing
a growing child with the stable, loving and stimulating environment
he
needs
for
proper development.
There has been much recent legislative adivity in this area.
The Children and Young
Persons
Act
1969
is the latest attempt
to re-orientate the way in which we deal with children deprived
of a normal family life. The
Local
Authority (Social Services) Act
1970
will
reorganise the local authority social services. The
Family Law Reform Act
1969
considerably amended the law
regarding infants
or
It
reduced the age of majority from
twenty-one to eighteen years; removed
from
children born and
remaining illegitimate their former disability
to
claim maintenance
from a deceased parent’s estate,
or
a
child’s share in the property
left.
by a parent who died intestate, and included them in descrip-
tions such as
‘‘
child,’’
or
other words of relationship, in claims
to
succeed under a will.
Xt
also made new provisions for the
administration of blood tests to prove paternity
in
civil proceedings.
We still call “illegitimate children” the normal children of
By
e.
79
(9)
.the Aat will
be
brought
into
operakion by
stahtory
instrument.
-9s
the result
of
S.I.
Nos.
1552
and
1565
of
1969,
the following sections were
in
operation
on
or before January
7, 1970:
w.
35-45, 47-65, 57-60, 62
(2).
63-71
and
p&
of
BB.
33
(1);
46,
56, 72 (l),
(3)
end
(5).
Some prts of the
Schedules
have
also
been made operahive.
Ae
b
8.
35,
see
note
54
post.
c.
42.
By
8.
15
(4)
the
A&
will
be
brought.
into
operation by etatutory instru-
ment. None had been made by
June
10, 1970.
The Act was reviewed by Mrs.
Jod
Harries
in
(1970)
93
M.L.R.
!So.
c.
46.
Pants
I.
I1
and
IV
of
the
A&
came
into
force
on
,January
1, 1970.
Ymt
111,
dealing with blood,
teste,
will
+m
brought,
into
o
rakion when
pro-
vision
has
been
made
for
kesds
to
be
administered witgfn
asy
reach
of
By
the
Family Law Reform Act
1969.
s.
12
“
A
person
who
i5
n&
of
full age
may be demribe4
as
a
minor
imtad of
ae
an
infant,
and accordingly
-in
this
Act
‘minor mean*
mch
e
pemn
BB
aforesaid.”
The
Adminidration
of Justice
A&
1970,
Sched.
1
uses
the brm ‘‘minor,”
aa
dm
the Matri-
monid Proceedings
and
Promy
@t
197?,,
6.g.
in
6.
17
(5)
(a).
Eut when
not
neiEg
ib
$pis1
vocabula3g
of
ckild
(under
hhe
sge
of
14)
or
“
young
pemm
(between
the
sges
of
14
and
17
79
accor{,ing
b
the Chldren
and
Young
Persons
Act
1933,
8.
107,
Ithe
otherness
of
&he
Children
and
Young
Persons
Act
1969
is
emphasised
by
the
use
of the term
“
infant
”
e.g.
in
w.
2
(3)
(4)
(5)
end
(8)
Q
(14).
m@&’
coulrts.
649
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