Convention Compliance on a Hedgehog's Terms Utilising Dworkinian Jurisprudence to Move Towards an ECHR-Compliant Reinterpretation of the Paramountcy Principle in Domestic Practice

This thesis seeks to utilise the Dworkinian distinction between a legal rule and principle in order to develop a theoretically coherent reinterpretation of the paramountcy principle. This reinterpretation seeks to amend section 1(1) Children Act 1989 so as to grant children’s rights a primary status in law. Whilst such amendment does not achieve the same level of ECHR compliance that previous reinterpretations have, it is argued that this thesis’ primary principle offers an actionable model of litigation for judges to apply in everyday family practice.