Theory and Practice: 'Kilbrandon', legal rights and the children's hearings system

Lord Kilbrandon’s name has become synonymous with the children’s hearings system: if you ask anyone involved with the system, ‘the Kilbrandon ethos’ or ‘Kilbrandon legacy’ are often used to describe the origins and underpinning principles of the system. Indeed, many of us look forward to the annual ‘Kilbrandon lecture’ established to commemorate his contribution to Scotland. Rightly or wrongly (a subject for another day), in the modern-day children’s hearings system we often refer to the system’s origins, especially in the context of change. In its report the Independent Review of Care simply talked about ‘Kilbrandon’ and a shared commitment to the retention of the principles that have characterised the system from the beginning. However, the Review was also clear about the need to ensure that the children’s hearings system today is one that is able to uphold the legal rights of the child and their family since it heard from children and families directly that this had not always been the case, something that should concern us all deeply. In the spirit of considering the origins of the system, and especially as Scotland moves towards incorporation of the UNCRC, how does this desire to ensure the system upholds legal rights compare with ‘Kilbrandon’? The answer to this question depends on the extent to which legal rights themselves are part of the ‘Kilbrandon legacy’.