ABSTRACT
The Children Act 1989 which regulates most of the private and public law relating to children, with the exception of adoption, has been implemented for a decade with as yet, given the societal and child care policy shifts that occurred during the 1990s, extraordinarily little amendment. The Children Act 1989 is predicated on the belief that children are generally best brought up within their own families, with the state and the courts only intervening where necessary. The public law provisions of the Act were drafted with the intention of securing a better balance between the rights of parents to bring up their children without interference; the rights of children to have their voice heard and listened to; and, the duty of the state, through local authorities and the courts, to intervene to protect children at risk of neglect or abuse within their families.
