Principles Underlying the Children Act 1989
| Author | Safda Mahmood/Julie Doughty |
| Pages | 13-16 |
2.1 Paramountcy of the welfare of the child
The CA 1989 commences with a clear direction in section 1(1) that:
When a court determines any question with respect to—
(a) the upbringing of a child; or
(b) the administration of a child’s property or the application of any income arising from it,
the child’s welfare shall be the paramount consideration.
This means that after weighing all the factors, the court’s decision will be made in accordance with the child’s welfare. The child’s welfare is not paramount if the decision is not about his or her upbringing or is not one being made within court proceedings.
The child’s welfare is not always easy to determine, and so the CA 1989 sets out a list of criteria in section 1(3), known as the ‘welfare checklist’. It is primarily intended as an aide-mémoire, particularly useful for judges, children’s guardians, professional and expert witnesses, but the court must have regard to it when considering an application to vary or discharge an order under Part IV (a child protection order), a special guardianship order, a section 8 order for child arrangements or specific issue or prohibited steps, and magistrates should always refer to the checklist when considering their findings of fact and reasons for their decisions.
The welfare checklist is not compulsory in other circumstances, but it is always useful for practitioners to consider it. If experts refer to these criteria whilst writing their reports, they will ensure that they are complying with the...
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