J v C
The welfare of the child is the first and paramount consideration, which rules upon or determines the course to be followed, even in a dispute between parents and strangers.
Facts
A Spanish boy had been brought up in England by English foster parents for most of his life, having been placed with them when he was a baby. His parents, who were unimpeachable parents, wanted him to return to Spain to live with them. The foster parents opposed his return, and the case came before the court in wardship. The judge decided that the boy should stay with the foster parents, and the parents appealed.
Legal principle
The House of Lords dismissed the parents' appeal. Lord MacDermott said that the words first and paramount consideration in the Guardianship of Infants Act 1925 connote a process whereby, when all the relevant facts, relationships, claims and wishes of parents, risks, choices and other circumstances are taken into account and weighed, the course to be followed will be that which is most in the interests of the child's welfare. The welfare principle applied in disputes between parents and third parties as well as between parents. The boy's welfare required him to stay in England. The principle is now in section 1 of the Children Act 1989.
Related cases on private law disputes about children and child abduction
- Re B (A Child) (Residence: Biological Parent) [2009] UKSC 5, [2009] 1 WLR 2496
- Re C (A Child) (Immunisation: Parental Rights) [2003] EWCA Civ 1148, [2003] 2 FLR 1095
- Re D (A Child) (Abduction: Rights of Custody) [2006] UKHL 51, [2007] 1 AC 619
- Dawson v Wearmouth [1999] 2 AC 308
- Re E (Children) (Abduction: Custody Appeal) [2011] UKSC 27, [2012] 1 AC 144
- Re F (A Child) (International Relocation Cases) [2015] EWCA Civ 882
- Re G (Children) (Residence: Same-sex Partner) [2006] UKHL 43, [2006] 1 WLR 2305
- Re J (A Child) (Custody Rights: Jurisdiction) [2005] UKHL 40, [2006] 1 AC 80
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