Review of Children (Scotland) Act 1995 consultation: analysis

Footnotes

1. The young persons’ survey was aimed at young people up to the age of 26 as this is the maximum age for Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament.

2. This option was not available in the main consultation document.

3. Article 371-4 of the Civil Code stipulates that “the child has the right to maintain personal relations with his ancestors.  Only the interest of the child can hinder the exercise of this right”.  The law 70-459 of 1970 was also seen to provide grandparents with various rights, including: right of access which allows them to visit or meet their grandchildren on occasions; right of accommodation which allows them to invite their grandchildren to sleep over; and right of correspondence which allows them to exchange letters, phone calls and emails.  Further, it was stated that, as of May 2016 grandparents also have obligations to meet the nutritional needs of their grandchildren where their parents are unable to.

4. The Spanish Civil Code was considered to provide the legal right for grandparents (and other relatives) to see their grandchildren, and where this was denied by a parent they have the right to request visitation through the Spanish Courts.

5. Some respondents expressed disappointment that reference to the child’s bests interests was not reflected more clearly in this consultation question and others questioned the relevance and appropriateness of this question within the consultation

6. The SHANARRI factors consists of eight wellbeing indicators, including Safe, Healthy, Achieving, Nurtured, Active, Respected, Responsible and Included.

7. See, for example, https://childhub.org/en/promising-child-protection-practices/what-barnahus-and-how-it-works

8. MOMO (Mind Of My Own) - https://mindofmyown.org.uk/

9. VR headsets are used to familiarise children with court settings currently in England – https://www.salford.ac.uk/news/articles/2018/pioneering-vr-project-to-help-demystify-court-process-wins-government-backing

10. McDiarmid, C., Barry, M., Donnelly, M. and Corson, S. (2017) The Role of the Safeguarder in the Children’s Hearings System, Edinburgh: Scottish Government.