My Lords, I would like to say a word or two about this problem because I had the responsibility, rather a long time ago now, of formulating the provisions which are here being subject to amendment. The most important principle was then laid down, and acknowledged as being an important principle, that the case has to be decided in the light of the best interests of the particular child in the particular circumstances in which that child finds himself or herself.
It is very difficult to lay down anything that looks like rules about how you decide that because, as has been said already, the variation in family situations across the board is very large indeed. In some cases, it would be quite wrong for the father to have contact with the children for reasons that are sad and serious. On the other hand, there are sometimes occasions when it is thought to oust the father for no good reason at all. That also is serious. However, they are very different situations and anything that impinges on the importance of the paramountcy of the welfare of the individual child has a danger. Amendment 55, which would relegate this consideration to being one of the factors that has to be taken into account, strikes me as a reasonable way of handling the situation. Not many family judges or lay magistrates do not believe in the importance of the relationship between the parents in both cases, if possible.
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