The principle of Child’s Views Respect in Judicial Process through the Prism of International Law Standards

Abstract

The realization of the principle of respect of the views of the child, provided for on the global and on the regional level goes beyond the formal obligation of certain bodies to hear the child and stipulates the necessity to create a possibility for him to effectively participate in judicial process, while includes taking his views into consideration by the court. The practice which has been formed in Russia in this regard is based on the Russian Family law norm, according to which the opinion of a child over ten years old must be taken into account. The approach of the international bodies endorsed by the RF Supreme court is based on the premises that the court should take into the account the maturity of the child. In the same time the European court of human rights underlines the obligation to take the views of the child into consideration is not equal to obligation to follow them. Considering the views of the child the court should verify that expressed opinion is not a parroting of the opinion of a grown-up person living with the child. It is the national court who is it the position to decide if the child, bearing in mind the surrounding circumstances, is capable of forming his or her own views and which weight these views should be allocated. This decision should be reflected in the court’s judgment in sufficient detail. The argumentation is particularly important when the court takes a decision which is not based on the expert’s opinion it has at hand.