The study’s purpose was to investigate how Family Law appraises the Children´s Rights Conventions principle "the best interests of the child" when assessing visitation in cases with domestic violence, moreover, how the approaches can impact the children. Four family law caseworkers were interviewed through a combined interview and vignette study. The empiricism was analysed with a thematic analysis. Results indicated that the interviewees take the child's best interests into account by acknowledging their opinions. The results showed an inherent problem with a family-oriented stance in investigations. The child's relationship with parents is highly valued, which can be against the child's best interests. Ultimately, violence was seen as a serious risk factor in visitation proceedings, this contributes to negative consequences on the child. Despite that the Convention now is law, the results showed contradictions regarding what the best interest of the child is, therefore continued research is needed on the issue. / Syftet med studien var att undersöka familjerättens förhållningssätt till Barnkonventionens grundprincip om barnets bästa vid bedömningar av umgänge i ärenden där det förekommer våld i hemmet, samt vad förhållningssätten kan innebära för barnet. Fyra familjerättssekreterare intervjuades genom en kombinerad intervju- och vinjettstudie. Empirin analyserades med en tematisk analys. Studiens bärande resultat visade på att familjerättssekreterarna beaktar barnets bästa genom att låta barnet få komma till tals. Resultatet fann även ett inneboende problem med ett familjeorienterat synsätt i umgängesutredningar. Det framkom att barnets relation till båda föräldrarna värnas högt vilket kan strida mot barnets bästa. Slutligen fann studien att våld utgör en allvarlig riskfaktor i umgängesutredningar och bidrar till negativa konsekvenser för barnet. Trots att Barnkonventionen är lag påvisade resultatet motstridigheter om vad barnets bästa innebär, och därför behövs fortsatt forskning i frågan.

The purpose of this study was to appraise the meaning and challenges of the principal’s school governance role in the Gert Sibande Region of the Mpumalanga Province. This was premised on the inherent challenges of the principal’s role as prescribed in the South African Schools Act, which locates the principal in the school governing body (SGB) as a member who promotes the best interests of the school; as well as an ex officio member who represents and promotes the interests of the employer – the Department of Education. It was found, through the literature review, that the challenges of the principal’s school governance role were largely symptoms of different emphases on the various functions of the SGB as listed in the South African Schools Act. As such, the concept of school governance was contextualised into an understanding of the essence of the school governance mandate as concerned with three main roles of the SGB, namely, providing the school with a strategic direction, the SGB being critical friend to the school and holding the school to account. Through qualitative interviews of purposely selected school principals, educator-governors and parent-governors, it was found that the principal’s role was influenced by, among others, challenges pertaining to the principals’ ex officio role, parent governors’ low education level, parent governors perceptions about being in the SGB, the perceptions about the principals’ role in the SGB by other members and miscellaneous challenges pertaining to perceptions and structural factors about the school governance role. This was found to be a result of the listed nature of the Schools Act’s governance roles and responsibilities and pointed to the need for giving context to them through an approach that focuses on the meaning and implications of the school governance mandate. For that reason, this study proposes a Three-step Approach to school governance. The Three step-Approach to school governance takes the school governance mandate as a point of departure and models the school governance process from the intention to establish SGBs through elections of a new and incoming SGB while the outgoing SGB is in the final stages of its term of office; to training of SGB members over stages that focus on the relevant content and components of school governors; and culminates into the start of the process of functioning of the incoming SGB. The emphasis of this approach is on fostering a clear understanding of the school governance mandate; how it contextualises the listed functions in the Schools Act; and the need for the SGB to start functioning with members already trained and in full understanding of their roles as they relate to the school governance mandate of promoting the best interests of the schools through the provision of quality education for all learners at the school. / PhD (Education Management)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2015.

The purpose of this study was to appraise the meaning and challenges of the principal’s school governance role in the Gert Sibande Region of the Mpumalanga Province. This was premised on the inherent challenges of the principal’s role as prescribed in the South African Schools Act, which locates the principal in the school governing body (SGB) as a member who promotes the best interests of the school; as well as an ex officio member who represents and promotes the interests of the employer – the Department of Education. It was found, through the literature review, that the challenges of the principal’s school governance role were largely symptoms of different emphases on the various functions of the SGB as listed in the South African Schools Act. As such, the concept of school governance was contextualised into an understanding of the essence of the school governance mandate as concerned with three main roles of the SGB, namely, providing the school with a strategic direction, the SGB being critical friend to the school and holding the school to account. Through qualitative interviews of purposely selected school principals, educator-governors and parent-governors, it was found that the principal’s role was influenced by, among others, challenges pertaining to the principals’ ex officio role, parent governors’ low education level, parent governors perceptions about being in the SGB, the perceptions about the principals’ role in the SGB by other members and miscellaneous challenges pertaining to perceptions and structural factors about the school governance role. This was found to be a result of the listed nature of the Schools Act’s governance roles and responsibilities and pointed to the need for giving context to them through an approach that focuses on the meaning and implications of the school governance mandate. For that reason, this study proposes a Three-step Approach to school governance. The Three step-Approach to school governance takes the school governance mandate as a point of departure and models the school governance process from the intention to establish SGBs through elections of a new and incoming SGB while the outgoing SGB is in the final stages of its term of office; to training of SGB members over stages that focus on the relevant content and components of school governors; and culminates into the start of the process of functioning of the incoming SGB. The emphasis of this approach is on fostering a clear understanding of the school governance mandate; how it contextualises the listed functions in the Schools Act; and the need for the SGB to start functioning with members already trained and in full understanding of their roles as they relate to the school governance mandate of promoting the best interests of the schools through the provision of quality education for all learners at the school. / PhD (Education Management)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2015.

The legal comparison of alternative care of children in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic There is always present a group of children who cannot for various reasons grow up in their biological family. Obligation of the state in such cases is to ensure that children alternative care. The purpose of alternative care is to protect and nurture children in a safe healthy environment and provide suitable conditions for their healthy physical, intellectual, emotional and moral development. The objective of the thesis is to analyze and compare alternative care of children institute in the Czech and the Slovak Republic from the substantive and procedural point of view with intention to evaluate effectiveness of legal regulation, identify basic problems in the practical realization, outline the principles significant for the further development of alternative care and make proposals de lege ferenda. Focus is put on the analysis of differences in national regulations and their critical evaluation. The study takes into account relevant judicature with an emphasis on the reflection of the best interest of the child principle, right of the child to be heard and right to respect for private and family life in the decision-making practice of the courts. Legislation of the Czech and the Slovak Republic is...

The topic of this thesis is the denial of paternity - the interests of a child and its social and biological reality. The origin of this concept can be found in Roman law and its approach to the family. Although the institution of fatherhood is known since the ancient Rome, it is still a current topic. The aim of this thesis is to explain the topic of paternity denial from the child's point of view and its social and biological reality. Another topic mentioned is the paternity determination. "The mother is always certain" is a Roman-law principle, which founded the institution of parenthood. This principle and ascertained facts help to determine the paternity, which can be denied in the case of discrepancy of the ascertained facts. In the first chapter I am exploring the historical view of the parenthood - since the ages of Roman-law until the family law. The chapter begins with Roman-law conception of the family, which laid the foundations of today's understanding of family. Then I will outline the evolution of the examined topic using the Civil code and family law. In the second chapter I am evaluating the denial of paternity in cases when reasonable doubt of the correct law usage occurs. The third chapter is about proceedings dealing with the denial of paternity. The fourth chapter is the most...

When should it be permissible to act against someone's expressed wishes in their best interests? In both political philosophy and legal practice, answers to this question often appeal to the concept of autonomy. Broadly, the idea is that if a person is sufficiently self-governing, then their wishes must prevail; but if they are not, then their wishes need not be respected when promoting whatever is good for them. This thesis analyses both philosophical models of autonomy and the practice of judges in England and Wales when implementing the Mental Capacity Act 2005. With regard to the philosophical models, it finds that, despite claims to the contrary, they do not offer a plausible way of assessing whether someone else is autonomous without appealing to values that are not the person's own. With regard to legal practice, it finds that, although judges speak about 'autonomy' in contradictory ways, a coherent account of when they will find that they must respect a person's expressed wishes can be constructed. This first stage of analysis makes a gulf between 'autonomy' in philosophy and law obvious. When philosophers talk about 'autonomy', they are largely concerned with the person's relationship to themselves. When judges talk about 'autonomy', they are largely concerned with the person's relationship to the world. 'Autonomy' in the philosophical sense cannot justify current practice because it does not deal with the same subject matter. Analysis of mental capacity cases does, however, allow the development of an alternative justification for actions against a person's expressed wishes. This justification lies in an evaluation of the entire situation, not of the person. It is not reducible to any model of autonomy, not even 'relational' models. Taken seriously, this justification requires a reorientation of the ethics of mental capacity law: away from overreliance on relatively few abstract 'principles' and towards articulating the difficulty and complexity of real situations. The thesis offers two papers towards the development of this latter mode.

<p>The purpose of this study was to examine how a selection of social welfare officers based on the principle of the best interest of the child construct a minimum level of the material standard in a home. Another purpose was to examine whether different units with varying socioeconomic prerequisites in the municipality of Stockholm construct this level differently.</p><p>The method used in this study was Sociology of Law and two focus groups were used for the gathering of the data. A social constructive theory, a class perspective using concepts of Bourdieu and a perspective of law were used to analyse the material of data.</p><p>The results showed that the courses of action varied from enactment and the policies of the municipality of Stockholm, unspecified theories of the development of children, the conception of what is normal and what children needs, the context in which they work, the development of the society and what they estimate that children needs when attending school. The results also showed a difference between the two units concerning the minimum level of the material standard in a home</p>

The purpose of this study was to examine how a selection of social welfare officers based on the principle of the best interest of the child construct a minimum level of the material standard in a home. Another purpose was to examine whether different units with varying socioeconomic prerequisites in the municipality of Stockholm construct this level differently. The method used in this study was Sociology of Law and two focus groups were used for the gathering of the data. A social constructive theory, a class perspective using concepts of Bourdieu and a perspective of law were used to analyse the material of data. The results showed that the courses of action varied from enactment and the policies of the municipality of Stockholm, unspecified theories of the development of children, the conception of what is normal and what children needs, the context in which they work, the development of the society and what they estimate that children needs when attending school. The results also showed a difference between the two units concerning the minimum level of the material standard in a home

Author: Martina Holgersson och Pranvera VishajSupervisor: Matts MosessonTitle: “A study about how Social Services understand and put child perspective into practice”The purpose of this study is to describe and understand how the child perspective is perceived and put into practice by the Social Services. Our questions were: “How is the child perspective perceived by the Social Services?” and “In what way is the child perspective put into practice in the Social Services’ work?” Our approach to knowledge is based on the hermeneutic tradition of knowledge. The essay rests upon semi-structured interviews with ten Social Services’ workers. We have analysed our results from the theory of actions where we have applied analytical ideas; the five P’s and actor and objective perspective. Our main findings in the study were; the Social Services’ workers regarded the child perspective as a complex and hard to define concept. Furthermore, the Social Services’ workers considered to think the fundamental apprehension of the child perspective; is children’s well-fare and protection from abuse. From which angle they choose to see the child perspective; the child’s, the parents or the professionals vary. The Social Services’ workers experienced the children were being implicated in the work. The reports are written from both angels, children and parents point of view. A special interest and importance from the Social Services’ workers were children being involved through-out the inquiry process as at decision-making. The child perspective doesn’t have to be crucial at a settlement. Based on our findings and our theory we can draw the conclusion that the scope the Social Services’ workers have in their work can influence how the child perspective is perceived and carried out and how it should be applied.

The aim of this study was to analyse how Swedish courts reason about the child's best in custody and access disputes. We have assumed different themes to analyse our empirical data, these themes were the child's best interests, perspective on the child's best interests, child's perspective, children as subjects or objects and finally the right of the child or the child's best interests. Our empirical data have consisted of 15 City Court and Court of Appeal judgments of the Swedish courts handed down in 2015. The study had a qualitative disposition and the selection was made strategically to make sure the empirical data would be relevant to our issues. We have used a discourse analysis where the intention was to study how the court reason about the child’s interests and what statements that gets preference and what gets excluded in the assessment. Our theoretical starting point was extracted from Foucault’s theory about power and his discourse concept. We have used the concept of his theory in our analysis, but also extracted the theoretical concepts from previous research. The result shows that the Court's assessment of what is in the child’s best interest is based primarily on a professional and adult perspective on the child's situation. The individual child's perspective was excluded and the Court was principally talking about children's needs and interests in general. The result also showed that children were seen as objects and not as participants in the majority of the cases.