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Barnets vilja i domstolsprocessen - Skilsmässobarnens roll som spelpjäser i ett spel de inte är gamla nog att få spela

Runius, Johanna LU (2016) LAGF03 20162
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract (Swedish)
Den viktigaste principen i barnrätten är principen om barnets bästa. I FN:s konvention om barnets rättigheter stadgas i artikel 3 att barnets bästa alltid ska sättas i främsta rummet. I 6 kap. 2 a § FB finns en motsvarande be-stämmelse om att barnets bästa ska vara avgörande för alla beslut om vård-nad, boende och umgänge. Barnets bästa är ett resultat av flera olika om-ständigheter och det måste i varje enskilt fall göras en individuell bedöm-ning. 6 kap. 2 a § FB innehåller tre betydelsefulla parametrar som särskilt ska beaktas vid bedömningen av barnets bästa. De är risken att barnet far illa, barnets behov av en nära och god kontakt med föräldrarna och barnets vilja. Då barn inte har en självklar roll i mål om vårdnad, boende och... (More)
Den viktigaste principen i barnrätten är principen om barnets bästa. I FN:s konvention om barnets rättigheter stadgas i artikel 3 att barnets bästa alltid ska sättas i främsta rummet. I 6 kap. 2 a § FB finns en motsvarande be-stämmelse om att barnets bästa ska vara avgörande för alla beslut om vård-nad, boende och umgänge. Barnets bästa är ett resultat av flera olika om-ständigheter och det måste i varje enskilt fall göras en individuell bedöm-ning. 6 kap. 2 a § FB innehåller tre betydelsefulla parametrar som särskilt ska beaktas vid bedömningen av barnets bästa. De är risken att barnet far illa, barnets behov av en nära och god kontakt med föräldrarna och barnets vilja. Då barn inte har en självklar roll i mål om vårdnad, boende och um-gänge syftar uppsatsen främst till att fokusera på domstolens hänsynsta-gande till barnets vilja i bedömningen av barnets bästa. Detta kommer dels behandlas genom en redogörelse för bestämmelserna i FB och barnkonvent-ionen som behandlar barnets bästa och barnets vilja, dels genom en under-sökning som jämförs med en tidigare liknande undersökning.

Att barnets vilja ska beaktas i tvister om vårdnad, boende och umgänge kan verka självklart, men domstolarna och andra beslutsfattare har en tendens att utelämnat barnets vilja vid bedömningen av barnets bästa. Den främsta an-ledningen till det är att bedömningen av vad som är barnets vilja många gånger är svår då hänsyn måste tas till barnets ålder och mognad, om barnet anses vara påverkat av föräldrarna och om det barnet ger uttryck för att vara hens vilja överensstämmer med barnets faktiska vilja. Ytterligare en anled-ning till att barnet utelämnas är att beslutsfattarna och föräldrarna många gånger anser att barnet kan ta skada av processen.

Enligt 6 kap. 19 § FB har domstolen en utredningsskyldighet som innebär att den i varje mål ska se till att frågor om vårdnad, boende och umgänge blir tillbörligt utredda. Tre möjliga sätt för rätten att uppfylla sin utrednings-skyldighet är genom vårdnadsutredningar, snabbupplysningar och förhör med barnet i domstol. De olika tillvägagångssätten beskrivs i uppsatsen med fokus på barnets rätt att få sin röst hörd i domstolsprocessen. Därefter un-dersöks hur ofta tingsrätten och hovrätten i Sverige redovisar barnets vilja i tvister om vårdnad, boende och umgänge.

Slutligen diskuteras resultaten i uppsatsens analys i syfte att besvara de inle-dande frågeställningarna. Min undersökning jämförs med en liknande undersökning som gjorts av vårdnadskommittén för att undersöka om dom-stolarna förbättrat hänsynstagandet till barnets vilja i bedömningen av bar-nets bästa sedan vårdnadsreformen år 2006. Min slutsats blir att även om domstolarna förvisso blivit bättre på att redovisa för barnets inställning, lämnas majoriteten av barnens vilja utanför bedömningen. Detta kan enligt min åsikt inte anses vara förenligt med principen om barnets bästa. (Less)
Abstract
The most important principle of children’s rights is the principle of the best interests of the child. It is stated in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, article 3, that the best interests of the child shall be the primary consideration. An equivalent regulation is stated in the Parental Code, Chap. 6 Sect. 2 a, that the best interests of the child shall be crucial in all issues regarding custody, residence and contact. The best interests of the child is a result of several different factors and in each case an individual assessment must be made. Parental Code, Chap. 6, Sect. 2 a, contains three significant parameters which all should be considered especially to assess what is in the best interests of the child. The parameters... (More)
The most important principle of children’s rights is the principle of the best interests of the child. It is stated in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, article 3, that the best interests of the child shall be the primary consideration. An equivalent regulation is stated in the Parental Code, Chap. 6 Sect. 2 a, that the best interests of the child shall be crucial in all issues regarding custody, residence and contact. The best interests of the child is a result of several different factors and in each case an individual assessment must be made. Parental Code, Chap. 6, Sect. 2 a, contains three significant parameters which all should be considered especially to assess what is in the best interests of the child. The parameters are the risk of the child being abused, the child’s need of close and good contact with his or her both parents and the child’s will. Primarily, this essay focuses on the courts consideration of the child’s view in the assessment of the best interests of the child.

It can seem obvious that the court must take the will of the child into account regarding all matters concerning custody, residence and access, but courts and social welfare committees have been criticised because they repeatedly leave out the child’s right to be heard and to have an influence in the assessment of the best interest of the child. The main reason for this is because the court must consider whether the child is of an age and level of maturity to express a reasonable preference. The court must also consider that the parents might affect the child and that the child’s view may not for sure correspond with its actual will. Another reason for the child to be omitted is that executive officers and parents often believe that the process can damage the child.

According to the Parental Code Chap. 6, Sect. 19 the court has an enquiry responsibility, which states that the court shall ensure that questions concerning custody, residence or contact are properly investigated. There are three possible ways to fulfill this requirement; through custody enquiry’s, rapid disclosures and the hearing of the child by the court. The different approaches are described in this essay with focus on the child’s right to be heard and to have influence. Thereafter the essay examines how often the Swedish district courts and courts of appeal ascertains the views of the children in issues regarding custody, residence and contact.

Finally the results are discussed in the analysis to answer the initial questions. My investigation is compared with a similar investigation, which was made of the Custody Committee before the 2006 custody reform, to examine whether or not children are being heard to a greater extent now. My conclusion is that in the majority of the cases, courts do not mention the child’s will in the assessment of the best interests of the child, even though children are being heard to a greater extent now than before. Because of this I think that it is questionable whether the courts application of the best interests of the child is in correspondence with the requirements of the principle of the best interests of the child. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Runius, Johanna LU
supervisor
organization
course
LAGF03 20162
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
familjerätt, processrätt, barn
language
Swedish
id
8897074
date added to LUP
2017-02-13 08:20:00
date last changed
2017-02-13 08:20:00
@misc{8897074,
  abstract     = {{The most important principle of children’s rights is the principle of the best interests of the child. It is stated in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, article 3, that the best interests of the child shall be the primary consideration. An equivalent regulation is stated in the Parental Code, Chap. 6 Sect. 2 a, that the best interests of the child shall be crucial in all issues regarding custody, residence and contact. The best interests of the child is a result of several different factors and in each case an individual assessment must be made. Parental Code, Chap. 6, Sect. 2 a, contains three significant parameters which all should be considered especially to assess what is in the best interests of the child. The parameters are the risk of the child being abused, the child’s need of close and good contact with his or her both parents and the child’s will. Primarily, this essay focuses on the courts consideration of the child’s view in the assessment of the best interests of the child. 

It can seem obvious that the court must take the will of the child into account regarding all matters concerning custody, residence and access, but courts and social welfare committees have been criticised because they repeatedly leave out the child’s right to be heard and to have an influence in the assessment of the best interest of the child. The main reason for this is because the court must consider whether the child is of an age and level of maturity to express a reasonable preference. The court must also consider that the parents might affect the child and that the child’s view may not for sure correspond with its actual will. Another reason for the child to be omitted is that executive officers and parents often believe that the process can damage the child. 

According to the Parental Code Chap. 6, Sect. 19 the court has an enquiry responsibility, which states that the court shall ensure that questions concerning custody, residence or contact are properly investigated. There are three possible ways to fulfill this requirement; through custody enquiry’s, rapid disclosures and the hearing of the child by the court. The different approaches are described in this essay with focus on the child’s right to be heard and to have influence. Thereafter the essay examines how often the Swedish district courts and courts of appeal ascertains the views of the children in issues regarding custody, residence and contact. 

Finally the results are discussed in the analysis to answer the initial questions. My investigation is compared with a similar investigation, which was made of the Custody Committee before the 2006 custody reform, to examine whether or not children are being heard to a greater extent now. My conclusion is that in the majority of the cases, courts do not mention the child’s will in the assessment of the best interests of the child, even though children are being heard to a greater extent now than before. Because of this I think that it is questionable whether the courts application of the best interests of the child is in correspondence with the requirements of the principle of the best interests of the child.}},
  author       = {{Runius, Johanna}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Barnets vilja i domstolsprocessen - Skilsmässobarnens roll som spelpjäser i ett spel de inte är gamla nog att få spela}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}