Journal of Children’s Services • Volume 5 Issue 4 • December 2010 © Pier Professional Ltd 43 10.5042/jcs.2010.0695 Abstract This article addresses the difficult matter of interpreting the best interest principle, and offers advice for those who must make laws, and those who make decisions within the constraints of those laws. Our approach rests on an assumption that conclusions about best interest are best reached through a reasoned deliberative process. We suggest that legislators should not write substantive assumptions about what is best for every child into their laws; rather, they should indicate a non-exhaustive list of key relevant considerations that decision-makers can review and evaluate in each and every case. Further, the child’s own perspective should be imperative in all deliberations about best interest, and a distinction must be made between objective fact and what is invoked as a substantive and contestable assumption. The article supplies a benchmark against which we may review and judge the actual efforts of legislators and decision-makers to determine what is best for any child. Key words best interest; decision-making; child; deliberations In Norwegian law the Child Welfare Act 1992 regulates the state’s responsibility for children and young people at risk, and the best interest principle is given the following formulation: ‘When applying the provisions of this chapter, decisive importance shall be attached to framing measures which are in the child’s best interest. This means that importance shall be attached to giving the child stable and good contact with adults and continuity in the care provided.’ (§4–1) Introduction The requirement to give the best interests of the child a certain weight in decision-making affecting the future interests of that child is a familiar one. It finds expression in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) as Article 3: ‘In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interest of the child shall be a primary consideration.’ In the countries with which the authors are familiar – Norway and the UK – there are also clear statements of the relevant principle. Deciding best interests: general principles and the cases of Norway and the UK David Archard Lancaster University, UK Marit Skivenes University of Bergen, Norway