Hayley Trim's Analysis: Welfare first - intractable cases and the Family Justice Review

When I was considering the case of L-W (Children) [2010] EWCA Civ 1253 I did not have the benefit of Coleridge J's speech to the ALC on 26 November. I agree wholeheartedly with him. Listening to the voice of the child does not mean taking what is said at face value and implementing their wishes to the letter. Decisions must be based on the child's welfare not just what they want - that is after all the basis of the Children Act. Taking an authoritative stance is not always easy but it is something parents (and the courts) must do. This reminded me of the words of Thorpe LJ in Re S (Contact: Intractable Dispute) [2010] 2 FLR 1517 where the first instance judge had made each contact subject to the condition that the children had to choose whether or not to go: "whilst it seems on the face of it to conform with...

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