Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Editors’ Preface
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Memoir
- Part I The Family Justice System and The Work of Family Lawyers, Judges and Academics
- Part II Developing Family Law and Policy: Culture, Concepts and Values
- Part III Horizontal Family Law: Relationships Between Adults
- Part III: Horizontal Family Law: Relationships Between Adults Marriage
- Part III: Horizontal Family Law: Relationships Between Adults Cohabitation
- Part III: Horizontal Family Law: Relationships Between Adults Financial Aspects and Property
- Part IV: Vertical Family Law: Children, Parents and Parental Figures Parentage, Parenthood and Responsibility for Children
- Part IV: Vertical Family Law: Children, Parents and Parental Figures Children’s Rights and Welfare
- Part IV: Vertical Family Law: Children, Parents and Parental Figures Post-Separation Parenting and Child Support
- Part IV: Vertical Family Law: Children, Parents and Parental Figures State Intervention
- Part V Individual Family Law
- Part VI Other Family Matters
- John Eekelaar’s Publications
- Index
- About The Editors
Parental Responsibility
To Consult or Consent, is that the Question?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 April 2023
- Frontmatter
- Editors’ Preface
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Memoir
- Part I The Family Justice System and The Work of Family Lawyers, Judges and Academics
- Part II Developing Family Law and Policy: Culture, Concepts and Values
- Part III Horizontal Family Law: Relationships Between Adults
- Part III: Horizontal Family Law: Relationships Between Adults Marriage
- Part III: Horizontal Family Law: Relationships Between Adults Cohabitation
- Part III: Horizontal Family Law: Relationships Between Adults Financial Aspects and Property
- Part IV: Vertical Family Law: Children, Parents and Parental Figures Parentage, Parenthood and Responsibility for Children
- Part IV: Vertical Family Law: Children, Parents and Parental Figures Children’s Rights and Welfare
- Part IV: Vertical Family Law: Children, Parents and Parental Figures Post-Separation Parenting and Child Support
- Part IV: Vertical Family Law: Children, Parents and Parental Figures State Intervention
- Part V Individual Family Law
- Part VI Other Family Matters
- John Eekelaar’s Publications
- Index
- About The Editors
Summary
John Eekelaar means so much to so many – and on so many levels. As for myself, I cannot sufficiently express the gratitude for his unwavering support over the years: first, for a (too) mature student, then for a colleague when transitioning from one legal system to another and later when allowing me to join the editorship of the International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family (IJLPF). I have benefited immensely from his guidance, both on a personal and on a professional level, and I am certainly not the only one in this, as the contributions in this volume show.
In this contribution, I look at the construct of parental responsibility in the Children Act 1989, and its unfortunate deconstruction by the judiciary. John has published two short but seminal articles on this topic: ‘Do Parents have a Duty to Consult?’ and ‘Rethinking Parental Responsibility’. Despite their brevity, the articles have been very influential, and capture the issues with the clarity of analysis that characterises all of John’s outstanding oeuvre. In both, John – quite rightly – was very critical about the courts’ interpretation of the law on parental responsibility, especially their reliance, post-Children Act 1989, on a supposed common law that may require consultation with, or even consent of, other holders of parental responsibility, in cases of ‘important decisions’ regarding the child. In this contribution, I maintain that John’s criticism was, and is, fully justified, but will suggest what might, arguably, be considered a ‘middle ground’ : a mere duty to inform.
1. THE CONCEPT(S) OF PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY
The concept of parental responsibility is as obvious as it is significant, as indeed is the associated terminology. Firstly, using the term ‘responsibility’ clearly indicates a paradigm shift: a move away from parental rights, custody of children and power over children, towards responsibility for children. In other words, there is an intended shiftaway from a focus on the position of the parent, towards a more child-focused one. As one German Court of Appeal judge has put it:
I very much prefer parental responsibility as a term.
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- Family MattersEssays in Honour of John Eekelaar, pp. 637 - 654Publisher: IntersentiaPrint publication year: 2022