§ Consents required to the Marriage of an Infant
| 11. WHERE THE INFANT IS ILLEGITIMATE | |
| Circumtances. | Person whose consent is required. |
| If the mother of the infant is alive | The mother, or if she has by order of the court been deprived of the custody of the infant the person to whom the custody of the infant has been committed by order of the court. |
| If the mother of the infant is dead | The guardian appointed by the mother |
§ LORD RAGLAN moved to omit Part II of the Schedule. The noble Lord said: Part II of the Schedule provides that it shall be necessary for the mother of an illegitimate infant to give her consent to its marriage. By the law, so far as I can ascertain it, the mother of an illegitimate child is not the legal guardian of the child and no one's consent is required to its marriage. Therefore this Bill, which by the Preamble professes merely to put the sexes on an equality, proposes by this Part of the Schedule to confer upon women a right which has never been possessed either by men or by women. So much for the legal side of the question. As regards its social side, it often happens that the charge of illegitimate children is undertaken either by the father or by some charitable organisation, and in those cases it does seem to me to be undesirable that the mother should be recognised as the legal guardian.
§
Amendment moved—
Schedule, page 8, leave out lines 38 to 47.—(Lord Raglan.)
§ VISCOUNT HALDANEI hope that the Government will not assent to this Amendment. The very purpose of the Bill is that where the mother, although a mother of an illegitimate child, is a proper person to look after the child, she shall be given the duty of looking after it. If she is not fit to look after it, then there is provision for the custody being 664 in the Bill and I am indebted to my noble and learned friend for calling attention to the matter. I hope that this Amendment will be accepted by the House.
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 9, as amended, agreed to.
§ Remaining clauses agreed to.
§ Schedule:
§ taken away and handed over to a guardian. It is clear that the person who is most likely to look after the welfare of the infant is the mother, if the mother is fit to do it, or the guardian if she is not fit to do it. But to strike that out seems to me to be going back on what is, in substance, the principle of the Bill. We are here dealing with the interests of children primarily. Somebody has to look after them. We are saying that the mother of an illegitimate child may, in the circumstances, be the best person to look after the child. She may not; in that case the Bill makes provision for somebody to take her place, but one or other should surely be the person to give the assent which is in question.
§ THE LORD CHANCELLORI entirely agree with the view taken by the noble and learned Viscount. The purpose of this part of the Schedule is not to give new rights to the mother, but to give new protection to the children. It is true that as things stand to-day the illegitimate child is not protected in this way—that is, by its being necessary to procure the consent of its mother to its marriage—and the result has been that illegitimate children, not having that protection, have from time to time been victimised. I have made inquiries and I have been told that from Departmental experience it appears to be the fact that young and illegitimate girls especially 665 need protection in this respect. That being so, I hope that the Bill will be adhered to and that my noble friend will not press his Amendment.
§ Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
§ Schedule agreed to.