CUSTODY OF CHILDREN (SCOTLAND) BILL. (Hansard, 14 February 1939)

§ LORD THANKERTON

My Lords, in asking your Lordships to give this Bill a Second Reading now, I would express the hope that your Lordships' House will give the measure, small as it is, as warm a welcome and as easy a passage as it got at all stages in another place. I may explain that there is only one point in the Bill. In Scotland we 715 divide children for the purposes of control into pupils and minors, a pupil meaning, in the case of a girl, until she attains the age of twelve years, and in the case of a boy, until he attains the age of fourteen. In Scotland the powers of the court at present with regard to making orders in respect of the custody, maintenance, education and so on of children are limited to control in the case of pupil children. In England, as I understand, that control persists until true majority is reached at the age of twenty-one, a person being called an infant under that age whatever age he or she may be. We are not seeking to go as far as that because sixteen is recognised in many modern Statutes as a suitable age. The sole purpose of this one-clause Bill is to extend the powers of the courts in Scotland beyond the age of attaining puberty, at twelve years in the case of a girl and fourteen years in the case of a boy, to the attainment of the age of sixteen. That is the purpose, and the sole purpose, of the Bill.

Instances will readily occur to your Lordships of the great usefulness of this power of control by the court, but I may perhaps give one illustration which will bring it home to you. By far the larger number of the divorces that take place in Scotland are divorces among the poorer classes, who have the benefit of what we call the Poor's Roll, which is known as the Poor Persons Act in this country. In most cases the parties are probably living in the same street or in the same district, and will continue to live quite close to each other. The unfortunate child, say, a girl of thirteen or a boy of fifteen, has to make up its mind without assistance from the court at present, but with pressure doubtless from this parent or the other, as to which it is going to live with. The father has a prior claim in one sense. Your Lordships will readily realise that it is of the utmost advantage for the peace of mind, not only of the most important person of all—the child itself—but also of the parents that a neutral party in the shape of the court should be able to control the question and to settle it definitely for the unfortunate child. The court, of course, as everywhere, always considers the interest of the child as the primary interest in these cases. That illustration will perhaps suffice to bring home the value of this Bill. I need not detain your 716 Lordships longer except to move that the Bill be now read a second time.

Moved, That the Bill be now read 2^a.—(Lord Thankerton.)

§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (THE MARQUESS OF ZETLAND)

My Lords, I should like, if I may, on behalf of the Government, to associate myself with the mover of this Bill, and to commend it to your Lordships' most favourable consideration. It does seem to me that for once Scotland appears to have fallen a little behind England in respect of its social legislation, and the purpose of this Bill, as the noble Lord has explained, is to place Scotland on the same footing as England in this matter. As I understand it, in England the High Court can deal with these questions in the case of a person below the age of twenty-one. The courts of summary jurisdiction have been given power to deal with similar questions in the case of persons below the age of sixteen, and it seems only reasonable that the courts in Scotland should have similar powers, and should be able to deal with these very difficult and often very delicate and painful cases of control, at least up to the time when the boy or girl reaches the age of sixteen. I hope very much, therefore, that your Lordships will give a very cordial reception to this Bill.