Children and the Law Conference 2005

Following a very successful first conference held in Brisbane in June 2003, LAWASIA (The Law Association for Asia and the Pacific) Exco approached the Family Law Practice Committee (`FLPC’) of the Law Society of Singapore with a proposal to host the second Children and the Law Conference in Singapore. This challenge led to the Children and the Law Conference being organised here from 27 to 28 May 2005.

This conference also coincided with the launch of the FLPC’s contribution to family practice literature by way of the publication of `The Art of Family Lawyering’, a best-practices guide for family practitioners, edited by Associate Professor Debbie Ong of the National University of Singapore’s Faculty of Law and one of the Vice-Chairs of the FLPC.

The conference programme, which Guest-of-Honour of the conference, the Honourable Justice Lai Siu Chiu, acknowledged in her Honour’s Keynote Address (see facing page) as containing an impressive and ambitious range of topics, attracted more than a hundred delegates in all, coming from Australia, Bhutan, India, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Pakistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka. It also drew a credible array of foreign and local speakers not limited to practitioners but other professionals with an interest in child issues. Session chairs were carefully selected from those in the local legal profession and academia who had a special connection to the topics.

However, what impressed the organisers most was the excellent spirit generated amongst the over 120 participants and speakers during the conference, question and answer sessions, tea breaks and luncheon which convinced us that the conference was to be a catalyst for further discussions leading to a better understanding of child issues by various agencies. As an experiment in bringing different stakeholders in child issues together in a niche conference, the conference was a satisfying experience for us as organisers. The conference saw, if not a meeting of minds, at least a meeting of faces amongst family law practitioners, judicial officers, officers from the Ministries of Community Development,  Youth and Sports, and Law, representatives from interest groups such as AWARE, Singapore Children’s Society and the like.

One topic which generated particular local interest and considerable media attention and discussion following the conference was in respect of the issue of joint custody of children. The session on Experts was timely with the recent amendments to the Matrimonial Proceeding Rules and brought views of other professionals such as a child psychiatrist and a grief-recovery specialist. The topic of Children as Victims of the tsunami which closed the conference was an eye-opener and provided an insight into the plight of children in the tsunami stricken regions.

Other topics as diverse as posthumous sperm donation and the Australian experience, restorative justice, and the integration of children with special needs raised interesting cultural, social and ethical concerns. Whilst in some areas, such as not being signatory to the Hague Convention nor having an entrenched Counsel for Child programme for every child, Singapore has much to learn from the experiences of her Australian and New Zealand counterparts, it was acknowledged that our programmes for juveniles are extremely progressive and would provide food for thought for other jurisdictions.

One of the delegates, a Family Court Judge from New Zealand, Judge Charles Blackie, described much of the issues raised in discussion as being akin to looking into a mirror, even though we are from different jurisdictions.

Apart from the conference proper, delegates mingled during lunch and tea sessions as well as a cocktail reception held at dusk at nearby Brewerkz. Non-practitioners and foreign delegates were also treated to a tour of the Family Court, kindly hosted by the Family Court.

In all, the conference was a successful event, bringing together like-minded people sharing the same vision in giving voice to the concerns of children and making our laws, and our world, more child-friendly.

Malathi Das and Yap Teong Liang

Organising Committee