About the Project
Norway has been criticized by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in several decisions. The criticism primarily relates to the failure to demonstrate a balanced consideration of the parents' and child's interests in the decisions, and a lack of sufficient factual basis, including updated expert assessments.
This project addresses the criticism from the ECtHR. We have access to a unique database (The Commission for the Assessment of Child Welfare Cases), and our findings show significant variations in expert mandates, as well as the random nature of expert interviews with the child. An overarching goal of this project is therefore to develop consistent procedures for expert work. We also aim to contribute to the better utilization of expert reports in decisions made by boards and courts.
Our Objectives Are:
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Compare the utilization of experts in Norway, Sweden, Germany, and England through the study of legal source material.
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Develop and test an app-based interview for experts to use when speaking with children.
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Compare Norwegian and Swedish legal decisions in child protection cases to identify how they justify the assessment of the child's best interests and the parents' rights, including the use of expert evaluations.
Organization and Goals
We are an interdisciplinary team of psychologists and lawyers with expertise in clinical, forensic, and developmental psychology, as well as procedural and child welfare law. Together with our reference group, we aim to address these questions. The interdisciplinary approach will enable an improvement in the training of experts and the practices of actors in the judicial system, while also fostering better understanding of these cases among future generations of psychology and law students. An important outcome of the study will be the achievement of more consistent practices across expert mandates, approaches, and conclusions, for the benefit of children and their parents.
Funding
The project is funded by the Norwegian Research Council (Research Project for Renewal).
Collaboration
The project is conducted at the Department of Psychology in collaboration with the Department of Public Law at the University of Oslo, and the Faculty of Law at the University of Bergen.
