The Court's Paternal Role

I have often thought that being a parent and being a judge are not too dissimilar – there is the need to remain calm, to be the voice of reason, to listen very carefully to what you are being told (and be aware that it might not always be true) and to want the best for those who have come to you for advice, but to know that what they want is not necessarily the same as what is best.

When I am trying to be my best parenting self, I often aspire to be judge-like (and during the Summer holidays there is plenty of opportunity to hone my dispute resolution skills). The case of Re A (Letter to a Young Person) [2017] EWFC 48, made me think that it is also sometimes important for judges to be a little like parents. In this case, a 14 year old boy made an application (that was then taken on by his father) to the court for permission to permanently relocate to Scandinavia with his father.