family law

[babybull24]

"unless courts are seen to be taking the contact issue seriously, the message of the law that contact is an important right of the child may be lost." - Andrew Bainham. Children- The Modern Law 3rd Edition 2005.

(a) Discuss, with reference to statutory provision and relevant case law, the extent to which, if at all, the courts achieve an effective balance between the right of the child to enjoy contact and the concerns (legitimate or otheriwse) ot the carer parent.

(b) Do you consider that the provisions of ss.11A-11P Children Act 1989 will equip the courts more effectively to deal with contact disputes in future? Your answer should be fully reasoned.

[factor-fiction]

"Our answers should be fully reasoned?"
No 'please' or 'thankyou'?

I help where I can but I won't be doing your coursework for you. But I'll give you a hint: read your lecture notes, the Children's Act and a few good text books, interpret them and craft an answer.

[Barmaid]

I am sometimes tempted to give completely the wrong information to these types of questions. When I went to law school, I did all my own research and essays. I used to spend all weekend in the law library slogging my guts out.

babybull, if you do a bit of research yourself and don't really understand something, people here are always willing to help. If you just type the question out and expect an essay you are going to be very disappointed.

[Stu Dent]

The other point is that if you do ever have any kind of intention of pursuing a law career YOU need to know how to find and interpret the law and apply it to the circumstances of your client.

The only other help I can give you is to say that there is a clear hint in the quote given: clearly, there is a feeling in some quarters that the courts have not treated childrens rights seriously enough in the context of parental contact. There will be cases where this debate arises from. Find those cases and comment on them. Do you agree with the quote? What is the purpose of the legislation? Should the courts be concerned with a balancing act? Again, what is the purpose of the legislation?

[fredpuli47]

My guess to (b) is 'yes' but could be wrong !. Console yourself that however intimidating a law question is, you get marks for your reasoning to an answer, even if it turns out that there's case which is directly against you . That can happen. More often, at the advanced level, nobody really knows the answer and then everything is judged on how you approach the question.(After all,like Lord Denning, you might live to discover that the case is wrongly decided and you were right all along!) It's the thought process that matters first; argue like a good lawyer, using what authorities you do have or remember.
But, in the end, the others here [supra ('above') ] are right.Do your own work.