Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Children’s Participatory Rights in Canada / : L'article 12 de la Convention relative aux droits de l'enfant et les droits de participation des enfants au Canada

Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Children’s Participatory Rights in Canada Prepared by: Nicholas Bala & Claire Houston Presented to: The Family, Children and Youth Section Department of Justice Canada August 31, 2015 The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Justice Canada Information cont [...] ARTICLE 12 OF THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD Article 12 of the CRC provides: 1. States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child. [...] British Columbia’s Act provides that the court may appoint a lawyer to represent the interests of a child where: (a) the degree of conflict between the parties is so severe that it significantly impairs the capacity of the parties to act in the best interests of the child, and (b) it is necessary to protect the best interests of the child.35 In the Yukon, the decision to appoint government-funded [...] The Court was concerned that not returning the boy to Ireland would send the message that it was acceptable to retain a child in another country as long as the child asserted that he or she did not wish to return, and accordingly took a narrow approach to the scope of the child’s objection exception in Article 13 of the Hague Convention.72 Justice Martinson held that it was unfair to the child and [...] The trial court appointed counsel to represent the interests of the child.74 Counsel for the child reported that after interviewing the child on two occasions, that the child [then 10 years of age] objected “to being returned [to Jerusalem] and has attained an age and degree of maturity at which it is appropriate to take account of its views” within the meaning of Article 13 of the Hague Conventio