What is an Independent Children’s Lawyer?
If you and your ex-partner aren’t able to agree on arrangements for your children, the Court may appoint an Independent Children’s Lawyer, or an ICL.
The ICL’s role is to be independent of both parents and consider things from the best interests of the children. An ICL must be open and transparent and share any information they obtain. An ICL speaks to professionals involved in your children’s lives, such as their teachers, or any doctors or counsellors that your children that may see to get an idea of who they are and what their needs may be so that we can help you as the parents to reach an agreement about what the arrangements could be for them to spend time with both of you.
How does an ICL interact with the Court and the family?
An ICL usually speaks to your children to find out if there is anything that they would like to tell the Judge, but if there’s nothing that your child would like to say; that’s fine too. It’s important to not to tell your children too much about any disagreements between you as parents, or about the court proceedings, so that they can continue to think of both of their parents as the best parents in the world. In speaking to your child, an ICL will keep things age appropriate and come back to you to let you know what your children have said, if anything. They also advise the Court of any views expressed by your children, but ultimately an ICL’s assistance to you and the Court is based on the children’s best interests to ensure that they’re safe while spending time with both parents – the child’s view is only one thing that is taken into account in considering this.
How do you appoint an ICL?
If you believe that your matter needs an ICL, you can ask the Court to make an order for an ICL, or the Court can make this order of its own volition. The Order is then provided to Victoria Legal Aid, who select an ICL from their list of trained ICLs, and the appointment is made. Victoria Legal Aid will usually try to appoint an ICL from your area if they can, so that it’s not too difficult to arrange for your child to meet with the ICL if that is requested.
Why would you engage an ICL?
The benefit in having an ICL in your case is an extra set of eyes looking at the information and helping to come up with a compromise so that the children’s needs are met, whether they’re about making sure that your child has a good amount of time with both parents, or arrangements so that your child’s emotional and psychological needs are met. Sometimes an ICL will liaise with the school or other specialists for the children to assist your family in supporting your children, or can source specialist programs for you to help with the separation and what comes next.
At CE Family Law we have two ICL’s, Sarah Pullan and David Edney. If you would like to discuss more about the role of an ICL please contact Sarah or David on 03 95960222.
Author: Sarah Pullan, Lawyer & Independent Children’s Lawyer