Children’s Right to Participate in Decision-Making in Norway: Paternalism and Autonomy

Abstract

This chapter examines whether including children’s participatory rights in the Norwegian Constitution has had any legal or practical impact. It uses Susan White’s typology of participation rights as a tool for examining whether children’s participation is nominal, instrumental, representative or transformative. The preparatory works of the Norwegian Constitution are ambiguous. On the one hand, the importance of providing participation to improve the decisions made and to teach children self-determination is recognised. On the other hand, the preparatory works promote a restrictive stance in the more detailed recommendations. The preparatory works exclude collective participation as a constitutional right, but still ordinary legislation contains such rights in some domains, and youth councils are common in Norwegian municipalities. The Constitution, however, clearly enshrines participation as an individual right. This chapter analyses participation rights in cases concerning parental responsibility in both out-of-court mediation, court-connected mediation and litigation, child welfare and child protection cases in and outside courts and in health care to assess the level of protection in practice. In spite of modernisation, legislation still offers only partial protection. The right to participation, particularly as it is manifested in guidelines and practices, depends on the area of law and on the organ where decision-making takes place. It concludes with some observations on the age, maturity and increasing self-determination of children.