Ms Naomi Kennan:

To pick up on the main discrepancies between the general scheme and Article 42A, one of the key ones is that Article 42A says that the court "shall" so it is not may. In some cases it says the court shall ascertain the views of the child and give the child who is capable of forming views a voice. We could all agree that very young children, including infants and children with disabilities, are capable of forming views. It is not about whether they are capable of expressing views. We need to support them to find their voice through both verbal and non-verbal methods. It is not a discretionary constitutional obligation, it is a constitutional imperative to listen to all children in court proceedings that affect them. It is not resource dependent; it is a right that children have at a constitutional level to which we must give effect.