Participation Rights
From Monday 26 July 2021 there are new participation rights in a Children’s Hearing. These participation rights give some people rights in a Children’s Hearing that they didn’t have before. The participation rights will mainly affect brothers and sisters.
This change is not just about children with the same parents. You may have a brother or sister-type relationship with another child or person that you have lived with. This relationship might be important to you both and these changes respect that. When we talk about brother or sister below we are also talking about these important brother or sister-type relationships
These participation rights will apply to you if:
- You are living with, or have lived with your brother or sister.
- You have an ongoing relationship with your brother or sister.
- The Children’s Hearing is likely to make a decision which would significantly affect when or how you see or have contact with your brother or sister, or the possibility of your having contact.
- You are able to give your views on when or how you see your brother or sister.
Quick check
I live with / have lived with | ✓ |
I have a brother / sister relationship with | ✓ |
The children’s hearing is likely to make a decision that significantly affects how or when I see | ✓ |
I am able to give my views on when or how I see or have contact with | ✓ |
If you have ticked all of them then the participation rights may apply to you.
The rights are
- to be notified of the Hearing
- to provide a report for the Hearing
- to get some of the Hearing papers
- to be allowed to attend for part of the Hearing
- to have representative at the Hearing.
Getting help
You may want to speak to your social worker about this (if you have one).
You may want to speak to an advocacy worker (if you have one). If you don’t have an advocacy worker and are under 18 you can get in touch with one in your area via the Hearings Advocacy website.
The law is not simple and you may want to speak to a children’s reporter. We have details for all local offices in the contact us section of our website. But don’t worry, if the Children’s Reporter thinks all of these things apply to you, then you will have the participation rights. Or you can ask the Reporter to arrange a Pre-Hearing Panel to decide whether you have participation rights.
There are some more changes as well. If you had participation rights at a Hearing, or you think you should have had participation rights, then you can ask for a review of the child’s Compulsory Supervision Order in some circumstances:
1. If you had participation rights, you can ask for a review of the Compulsory Supervision Order – the review will take place after three months from the last Hearing.
2. If you had participation rights but did not attend the Children’s Hearing, you might be able to have a review before three months. This can happen where you were not able to participate properly because of a procedural failure or because of exceptional circumstances.
3. If you did not have participation rights and did not attend the Children’s Hearing, you might be able to have a review before three months. This can happen where there was no decision by a Children’s Hearing or Pre-Hearing Panel about whether you had participation rights and a Children’s Hearing or Pre-Hearing Panel – if it had considered it – would likely have decided you did have participation rights.
Asking for a review
A review will only be arranged if you ask for it, and if you think the circumstances in (2) or (3) above apply then you must make that clear when you ask for the review.
If you would like to speak about the changes and how they apply to you or your family please contact us.
Changes in the Children’s Hearing as a result of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020
In addition to the new participation rights and the criteria which will be applied in order for someone to have participation rights in a Children’s Hearing there are some other important changes.
These changes are intended to improve the experience of children and families at their Children’s Hearings and to give more choice about how people participate within the Hearing.
Attendance at Hearings
- There are some new rules about attendance at Children’s Hearings. People with a right to attend the Hearing may ask the Reporter to arrange for them to attend by electronic means (video call).
- Some people may be allowed to attend only by electronic means – this is something a Pre-Hearing Panel or Hearing can decide.
- People can be excluded from a Hearing in some new circumstances, including when their behaviour is violent, abusive or disruptive or to enable a ‘relevant person’ to give their views to the Hearing.
So – when your next children’s hearing is about to happen, think about the changes and whether they apply to you.
If you would like to speak about the changes and how they apply to you or your family please contact us.
If you want further information, you can also visit the Stand Up for Siblings website.