Barnkonventionens tvetydiga definitioner och dess konsekvenser för barn i vårdnadstvister - En kvalitativ studie om rättens bedömning av barnets bästa och barns delaktighet i vårdnadstvister

Sammanfattning: This study aimed to examine how Swedish courts consider children’s opinions in custody cases relative to their age and maturity, following Sweden’s 2020 implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Specifically referring to UNCRC articles 3 and 12. The results of this study are based on a qualitative text analysis of court custody cases, in which we’ve aimed to broaden the understanding of how the court considers the child’s opinion. The empiricism of this study is based on 18 custody cases of children between the ages of 10 and 15. The theoretical framework of this study is Lundy´s model of participation and additionally legal dogma. The overall conclusion of this study is that the court lets children participate by having dialogues during the custody investigation, in which they are free to express their opinions about the parents' custody. However, in 16 out of 18 cases, it is unclear under which circumstances these dialogues were being held. Furthermore, we found that the child's age has a prior impact on their right to participate in court. Opinions expressed by younger children or children with a lower maturity level have little to no impact on the outcome of the decision. However, most cases often don't include a statement regarding the interplay between age and maturity or an assessment of the child's maturity. Lastly, we found that the principle of best interests of the child is superior to the principle of taking the child's opinion into account, the child’s opinion doesn’t have an impact on the outcome of the decision if it doesn’t align with their best interests.