Caroline Åvall

My Ph.D. project delves into the Swedish landscape of custody disputes, encompassing conflicts over a child's custody, residence, and visitation. While the study primarily resides within the realms of Swedish family law, procedural law, child law, and public law, it concurrently explores broader questions about the role of law itself. The central focus of my thesis revolves around parental contracts and settlements governing custody matters. Specifically, I am investigating the extent to which procedural laws facilitating such settlements align with the overarching principle of the best interest of the child — an imperative in these conflicts from a formal legal perspective.

Beyond the immediate legal considerations, my research addresses the sometimes quite complex balancing act between two divergent interests: the autonomy of families to make their own decisions and state intervention in safeguarding the welfare of the child. Parental contracts, as legal instruments regulating custody, serve as a unique intersection of private and public law.

The Ph.D. project encompasses two distinct studies. The first, a legal study, scrutinizes the historical evolution of legislation, unraveling the underlying objectives of family and procedural laws in Sweden concerning custody disputes. This study aims to map the legal landscape, uncovering gaps, contradictions, and other intricacies within the legal framework.

The second study employs methodologies from social science research and legal sociology to explore how state institutions handle parental conflicts. This involves examining court procedures and social service documentation, supplemented by interviews with key stakeholders such as judges, social workers, lawyers, and mediators. By adopting a critical perspective, inspired by Critical Children's Rights Studies, I aim to shed new light on the challenges inherent in the functioning of the legal system.