Judges asked to write to children involved in court proceedings explaining why they made their decision

As the toolkit sets out, judges writing to children is a key means by which judges can ensure children feel heard and are supported to understand what the family court has decided in relation to their family and why.

The toolkit is the product of a collaboration between the judiciary, children and young people and other professionals who work in and around the family justice system. Nuffield Family Justice Observatory supported its development, sharing findings from research on children’s experiences of family court proceedings.

Writing to children is one important way of ensuring that children feel involved in family court proceedings – put simply it lets a child know the judge was thinking about them when they made their decision. A child’s right to participate in proceedings and to have the final decision communicated to them in a way they can understand is enshrined in international and domestic legislation and guidance however it does not routinely happen.

The guidance gives public and private family law judges an approach for writing to children created after input from children and young people, judges, researchers and academics, social workers, clinical psychologists, communication experts and others who work with children and the courts.

 “The benefit of judges communicating with the child at the centre of proceedings has long been recognised, yet few of us have ever written to a child to explain our decision in their case. There is an understandable judicial reluctance in this regard partly because of the realisation that the letter will be important and there is a fear of saying the ‘wrong thing’. As is made plain throughout this guidance by direct quotation from children, a child is entitled to be given an accurate and informative account of what was decided, and why, from the judge who made the decision. This will be important for the young person in understanding that their wishes and feelings have been taken into account by the court, and in supporting them to accept or make sense of the decision as they move forward with their life thereafter.”   

 “My hope is that once judges have written to children in a few cases, doing so will rapidly become the norm and no longer a task to be avoided.  The publication of this guidance has the potential to change the culture and to make the sending of a short letter from the judge the norm in all substantive cases.”