§ 37. Mrs. Joyce Butlerasked the Attorney-General whether he will amend the law to ensure that, in determining the question of custody of children under divorce proceedings, a court shall regard the religion of the parties.
Mrs. ButlerOn a point of order. Perhaps I might say, Mr. Speaker, that the Question contains a misprint. It should say that the court "shall not have regard to the religion of the parties".
§ The Attorney-GeneralIn view of that amendment, the answer is, "No, Sir." In determining questions of custody, the courts are required to regard the child's welfare as the first and paramount consideration. For this purpose they take account of all the relevant circumstances of the case.
§ Mrs. ButlerArising from a recent case in which a mother lost the custody of her three daughters because she was a Jehovah's Witness, is there not a grave possibility of religious prejudice affecting the happiness and welfare of the children concerned? Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman look at this again, because it is an important point?
§ The Attorney-GeneralWhat guides court must be, the question of what is in the paramount interests of the child. In the case to which the hon. Lady has referred, which I assume is the case of 932 Buckley v Buckley, it was pointed out among other considerations that the father's financial position was good, that the mother's was perilous and that the mother was a Jehovah's Witness, which tended to isolate the children—for instance, it made them ignore Christmas and forbade inoculations and blood transfusions. Taking all these matters into account—religion was only one of them —it was felt that it was in the best interests of the children that they should go, in this case, to the father.