‘The law of England reflects an underlying ...

‘The law of England reflects an underlying but unspoken assumption that children’s and their parents’ interests necessarily coincide.’
To what extent should the law permit and enable independent decision making by children? Critically discuss with reference to healthcare.
Introduction
“Contests between parent and State over the medical treatment of children have been a recurring theme over the years.” There are a chain of cases linked to this, a recent case that can be referred to be the case of Baby OT; this shows the amount of distress caused for both parents and medical professionals. Baby OT’s parents describe their relationship with doctors and staff at the hospital as becoming “very difficult” in The Times Newspaper. Children’s rights have been a recent introduction, in the early age where Roman law was in force in England; there was “patria potesta.” This was the belief of total paternal power, under this law parents were in total control of their children’s rights, whereas if we look at the present day law parents no longer have many rights over their children, children are able to make their own decisions, and parents are now only left mainly with responsibilities. Alongside the progression children’s rights agenda is now more accepted within society and there is the belief that children are now capable of making their own decisions and promoting their independence.
In the context of healthcare for children the law has progressed immensely, but initially we would need to assess whether children have any rights within the present laws. As Fortin stresses:
“Practitioners and policy makers are more concerned with what rights children have or should have, than whether they have rights at all.”
In agreement with Fortin it can be said that there is no doubt that children do have interests of their own and in order to consider whether their interests have any standing and are recognised, contact orders by virtue of s.8 of the Children Act 1989 will be examined alongside case law. Other provisions and bodies that have any relevant importance in the cases concerning children will also be critically considered, such as; adults with the parental responsibility of the child, courts, CAFCASS, possibly local authorities and the child him/ herself. These people’s roles and functions will be considered in light of the child’s best interests.
It has become more complex and difficult for the Family Division to deal with due to the difficult position they are left in between parents and medical professionals. The decision in most cases however is made in favour of the medical professionals as it can be seen from Hall’s article where she states, “It is almost invariably the recommendations of doctors which prevail. Parents, in short, no longer have a casting vote.” The main grounds for any cases ...