Not every order needs a letter. Some do.
Why write at all
Section 10 of the Children’s Act already asks us to give due weight to the child’s views. Section 28 of the Constitution already says the child’s best interests are paramount. An order that only the adults can decode has done half the work. The letter need not be literature. It should say who you are, what you decided, that you heard what the child said, and that the adults are now expected to make the order work.
It should not blame a parent in language a twelve-year-old will carry for a decade.
A working method for the letter, or the spoken page
• Write to the child you met, not to a generic child. Age, language, and what they actually said all matter.
• One page is enough. Two pages is usually a judgment wearing a kinder font.
• Do not use the letter to continue the adults’ war.
• If the child was not in court, say so, and say how their views reached you.
• Keep a copy on the file. A letter that cannot be found later was never quite written.
Some colleagues will prefer to speak the explanation and have it taken down. That is also a letter. The point is not stationery. The point is that a child who will live with the order should be able to recognise themselves in it.
A note from Neelan Karikan. Write so that the child can feel understood, not merely decided. Authority stems from that action more than it stems from the stamp.