David Williams charts the changing approach to the representation of children in Hague Convention cases
The demand for separate representation for children in Hague Convention proceedings has seen significant activity in the last three years with the subject receiving consideration twice in the House of Lords and three times in the Court of Appeal, most recently in Re C [2008] EWHC 517 (Fam), [2009] 1 FCR 194.
The seminal authority was for many years the decision of Mr Justice Wall in Re S (Abduction: Children: Separate Representation) [1997] 1 FLR 486. On the back of this decision separate representation for children was rare indeed over the next 10 years. When children were represented it took a variety of forms from Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service Legal (now CAFCASS High Court Team) to children instructing solicitors directly. Hague cases were seemingly insulated against the sea-change occurring in private law. Th e end of the beginning came in July 2006 when the Court of Appeal heard Re H [2006] EWCA Civ 1247,
