Law Relating to Children

There are several laws that specifically deal with children. Child law is aimed to protect a child's welfare and their rights. Some parents often do not understand with how to deal with specific problems that they find with their children. The most common issues in child law include abduction, child witnesses, children and medical equipment and smacking.

It is illegal to take a child without getting permission from all people that have parental responsibility for the child. If those with parental responsibilty do not agree on whether the child should be taken out of the country, the person wishing to take the child will have to go to court and get an order that would allow them to do so.

If a child is abducted and taken abroad, there are two international conventions which have been put in place to ensure the safe return of the children. These conventions are the Hague Convention and the European convention. When a child is abducted, it is important for the person seeking the childs return to act as quickly as they can, usually if a child is abducted for more than 12 months, it is usually deemed that it would be in the child's best interests if they were to stay with the abductor, providing this was a person who also had parental responsibility of the child.

Where a child has been a witness or the victim of a crime, they will have to give their testimony to the court. This can be a very daunting prospect for both the child and the parents. A parent will be fully briefed as to what the process involves and the parent should make sure that they let the authorities know if their child has any specific needs that will need to be catered for. The child will also be thoroughly briefed as to what will happen and what they will need to do. The parent and child will be able to choose whether a parent attends court with the child. When the child does attends court there are a number of measures put in place to protect the child's safety, which include being questioned in a place where they do not have to see the accused. If the accused is found to be guilty then there will be measures put in place to ensure that they cannot contact the child once they are in prison. If they are found not guilty, the police may be able to provide protection for the child if their parent thinks that they might be at risk.

It is legal to smack a child in the UK as long as an object other than the hand isn't used and it does not leave a visible mark on the child. In child law, this is known as 'reasonable chastisement'. It is illegal for anyone other than the child's parent to smack a child. It did look as if the law was going to change in 2004 however it was not followed through and the original law still stands.

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