Dr. Carol Coulter:

I will be very brief. In public family law, overwhelmingly, it is the guardianad litemwho is meant to represent the voice of the child. Guardiansad litemunder the Child Care Act 1991, and the new Act dealing with ad litemwhich has not come into force yet, have two jobs. One is to represent the views of the child and the other is to represent the welfare of the child. Those may not necessarily be the same thing at all. There is a great danger in that system that what we get is a guardianad litemrepresenting what he or she thinks to be in the welfare of the child and the views of the child get lost.

Children, of course, may not always be the best judges of their own long-term welfare but, nonetheless, their unfiltered and unadulterated views do need to get representation before the court. I know there are many other issues in respect of private family law but this aspect needs to be clarified. Having an opinion on the welfare of the child is different from presenting the views of the child. It must be ensured that the views of the child are represented in an unfiltered way so that people are sure of what those views might be. That could be done through the child's legal representation or through an expert or guardian.