In the discussion, Heidi Simoni speaks with Katja Cavalleri Hug from the national Ombuds Office Children’s Rights Switzerland about the participation of children in legal proceedings.
Heidi Simoni is a psychologist with her own practice in Laufen (Basel-Landschaft) and spent 16 years as head of the Marie Meierhofer Institut für das Kind (Marie Meierhofer Institute for the Child, MMI) in Zurich. In this role, she campaigned tirelessly for a better understanding of the youngest members of the population. Facilitating participation is a matter of great concern for her, as the self-efficacy that children experience through participation strengthens their resilience and, in this way, improves their ability to deal with stress and life crises in the future.
“The hearing rate has not increased in the last 15 years”, explains Heidi Simoni in the video discussion, citing an MMI study that focused on families that live at two different places following the separation of the parents. Whilst it is clear that judges do indeed hear children in the case of complicated separation proceedings, very often, the right to be heard is also not granted, for example because the proceedings ran smoothly or the parents had already agreed on living arrangements in advance.
Moreover, Heidi Simoni believes that the will of the child is far too often called into question in practice: “A will is a will, regardless of whether I’m a child or an adult. (...) I think it’s remarkable how hastily and how often children’s expressions of will are devalued. People believe they have been manipulated, they’re not mature enough yet”. On this topic, H. Simoni refers to an article by Sabine Brunner, published in the “Children are full human beings” edition of the MMI’s magazine “undKinder” (“andChildren”), which can be ordered here.
This video discussion addresses the questions of why participation must become a matter of course and why children should no longer be seen as objects of protection, but as legal subjects and full human beings with their own opinions and will. Irène Inderbitzin leads the conversation.
