Family law is the body of law pertaining to marriage and matrimonial issues. Its main aim is to protect each member of a family, whether that family is nuclear, de-facto, single parent, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander or blended in nature, as family is the foundation of society.It can be said that as community standards and expectations change and evolve in regards to the changing nature of parental responsibility, care and protection of children, the recognition of same-sex relationships and surrogacy and birth technologies the law has been reformed to reflect these emerging values and thus improve the rights of parents and children. Although this argument is not true in all circumstances, it is a prominent issue which legislators face, …show more content…
CROC has four core principles; non-discrimination, devotion to the best interests of the child, the right to life, survival and development and to respect the views of the child. This ratification led to the “best interests of the child” becoming the guiding principle in all family law matters in Australia, whereas previously children were regarded as the fathers property, human chattels over which parents had an absolute right. This concept was reflected in the Family Law Reform Act [1995] (Cwth)stating that both parents are responsible for the short and long term care of their children, except in cases of domestic violence. This led to the semantic word changes in which parental rights became parental responsibility and custody became contact, in an attempt to refocus attitudes away from the notion of the ownership of a child towards greater emphasis on their best
The Children’s Act 1989 and 2004: This act is all about ensuring that the children are kept safe from harm and are developing healthy. It’s important that settings support children and their families and work together with them to provide the best for the children. In 2004 the act was revisited because of the Victoria Climbie case and the every child matters came into place where five main aims were made: be healthy, stay safe, achieve through learning, achieve economic well-being and make a positive contribution to society.
In the Commonwealth of Australia’s Constitution Act s 51, powers of the Commonwealth Parliament to legislate on family law subjects is laid out, it states:
Same-sex relationships have always been a controversial legal issue, and there has been a variety of legal and non-legal responses, coming from a range of different viewpoints regarding the issue. In recent years, there has been many law reforms recognising same sex relationships, which include changes to Medicare, tax, social security, superannuation, worker’s compensation, child support, and allowing people in same-sex relationships to adopt children. These legal reforms come about as a result of extensive lobbying by non-government groups and organisations designed to promote the recognition of same-sex relationships in Australia.
To begin, we must examine the “best interest of the child” doctrine. Is this doctrine helping or hindering the child custody evaluation process? One important point made by John Mercer (2009) is that this term is not clearly defined and may in fact have different meanings for different children. This points to the idea that child custody evaluations are a very case/individual specific type of evaluation.
This change in family structure and definition has become a very public issue in recent years. According to the U.S. Census Bureau a family is defined as “two or more persons, including the householder, who are related by birth, marriage, or adoption, and who live together as one household” (www.census.gov). This legal...
C. Cobley & N. Lowe, ‘The stautory “threshold” under section 31 of the Children Act 1989 – time to take stock’ (2011) Law Quarterly Review 396
Since the enactment of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) a resistance is marked by the English judges in relation to disputes involving children. English courts have a difficult task in balancing the interests of parents and children since the welfare principle only looks at the interests of the child. Contrary article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) gives precedence to the rights of parents. Consequently are these two principles in conflict? Before answering this question, it is better to take things from the beginning.
The main points of the children’s act 1989 are parental responsibility and the welfare of the child. Children are best cared for within their own families. The act states that the mental and physical wellbeing of the child is important. Professionals and parents/carers must work together to ensure the safety of the child. Local authorities have a duty to look into situations where they suspect a child or young person to be suffering from significant harm. Duties get allocated to local authorities, and other agencies to ensure that all children are safeguarded. The children’s act 2004 reinforces that all organisations that work with children and young people must help to safeguard
Family Law (Law Express) 2th edition, by Jonathon Herring, published by Pearson Education Limited 2009
In the light of changes to the law over the past forty five years, in Hyde v Hyde Lord Penzance argued that, ‘’a marriage may be defined as the voluntary union for life of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others’’, this has enshrined in the Matrimonial Causes Act . This argument requires a critical discussion in the light of the above case including statutes, case law, changes in society, public opinion, Human right and same sex marriage.
Daily children are enduring abuse and neglect from the ones the love, family. Almost everyone believes that family is an important part of your life. Family are to protect, defend, and love at all costs. There are different types of families that range from extended and nuclear families to single parent family homes. Families are viewed as social institutions that consist of love and gentleness but sometimes problems can occur within these families. The problems vary from divorce, violence, neglect, and abuse. Violence in families is a form of social injustice. This social injustice goes unreported in families, but it is actually quite common. Specifically, assaults such as beatings and stabbings. These assaults are labeled as abuse and abuse
The family is the main agent of socialisation and an institution. (Giddens, 2013:339). As children, we rely on our family to fulfil basic needs. We all need guidance, and more importantly we also require nurturing to become healthy adults. The definition of family varies across cultures. However, the family is sensitive to change and, therefore, not static. The structure of the family has changed, and culture and society are now more accepting of the fact that people now choose to cohabit, rather than marry. (Haralambos & Holborn 2009:3). In 2013, there were nearly 1.9 million lone parent households with dependent children in the United Kingdom; a figure which has steadily increased over the years (Office of National Statistics 2013). The rise in lone parents has brought about greater acceptance of pregnancies that do not have to involve marriage although acceptance is not the concern. A study suggests that….
Every family is made up of individuals with their own beliefs and opinions. These beliefs, shared by the parents, are usually passed down to their children, thus molding other individuals who share some of those same views. These views can also be called norms, and these norms come about through culture. Norms refer to nonconcrete rules widely known by a group that affect their behavior. Each family shares their specific culture; therefore, each family follows their own norms characteristic of their culture. Norms come in many forms, and mine are no exception.
Should the aim of law be primarily focused on the protection of individual liberty or, instead, the normative goals aimed at the good of the society? The question of law and morality is difficult mainly because it needs to be addressed with current social conditions that exist, the morals and values that the particular society has. In general, the laws in any society should not only be focused on regulations, but it should also protect individual’s liberty. Devlin debate was based on deciding whether law should enforce morality. He debated about what the law ought to be and whether morality should be enforced by law to form a good society. Furthermore, John Stewart Mill did not write specifically on law and morality. His argument constituted mainly on the anti-enforcers side of law and morality because he believed in individual liberty. John Stuart Mill's assertion that the only justification for limiting one person's liberty is to prevent harm to another
Article 42A is a new section that was put into the Constitution in Ireland and regards the rights of the child. This essay will outline and discuss Article 42A of the Constitution, including an assessment of its potential to improve the lives of children in Ireland.