ABSTRACT
This chapter builds on its two immediate predecessors. They demonstrated that making room for welfare interests in legislation and court proceedings is clearly crucial, as is the judicial capacity to identify what constitutes the ‘welfare interests’ of a particular child in particular circumstances. This chapter shows the necessity of championing those interests by appropriate representatives in any and all proceedings where they conflict with the interests of others. Following a brief history of the different types of child advocates, the chapter identifies and considers their varying roles leading up to the Children Act 1989. It concludes by taking stock of the range of child welfare representatives in public and private family law proceedings, as established by the end of the twentieth century
