On Friday 18th of August Centre for Research on Discretion and Paternalism (DIPA), participated in the 10th edition of the 2023 Bergen Exchanges on Law and Social Transformation. The Bergen Exchanges are an annual research festival taking place in Bergen for the tenth year in a row. This is a meeting place for scholars and practitioners from across the globe who seek to understand how law serves as an instrument of societal change. DIPA members participated in three sessions of round table talk.
The first session was titled “The European Court of Human Rights – quo vadis children’s rights?” and consisted of Professor Elaine Sutherland (University of Stirling, UK), Postdoctoral fellow Hege Helland (DIPA) and Associate Professor Asgeir Falch-Eriksen (DIPA/OsloMet, Norway). PhD Candidate Marthe Sleire Engedahl, (University of Bergen, Norway) was the moderator. The roundtable discussed implications and consequences for children’s rights, both for Norway and for other countries’ policies and laws. This session also presented findings from the book project The Road to Strasbourg – and Back: The European Court of Human Rights and Child Protection, which is part of the DIPA research project “Legitimacy challenges for children’s rights and the child protection system”. An analysis of mistrust in core institutions and the normative foundation of the welfare state”.
The second session was titled “Why does the anti-liberal countermovement care about the Norwegian child protection services?” and consisted of Professor Siri Gloppen (Centre on Law and Social Transformation), and Professor Rachel Cichowski (University of Washington, US). Postdoctoral fellow Hege Helland (DIPA) was the moderator. This session is part of the DIPA research project “Legitimacy challenges for children’s rights and the child protection system”.
The third session was titled “Structuring Children’s Participation in a Legal Culture” and consisted of , Professor Tarja Pösö (DIPA / Tampere University, Finland ), Researcher Audun Løvlie (DIPA), Tuğba Dik (Heidelberg University, Germany), Dania Omar and Marit Sanner (the Change Factory). Professor Marit Skivenes (Head of DIPA) was the moderator for this session. This roundtable discussed structures designed to assist, and dilemmas that hinder, decision makers in meaningfully involving children in matters that concern them. The session is part of the DIPA research project “Children’s Right to Participation”.