In general terms, for the purposes of these procedures, the protection of children and young people includes unborn babies, and children and young people under the age of 18 years. However, while child protection procedures may be considered for a person up to the age of 18, the legal boundaries of childhood and adulthood are variously defined. There are overlaps. Where a young person between the age of 16 and 18 requires support and protection, services will need to consider which legal framework best fits each person’s needs and circumstances.

It is important to note that for the purposes of the UNCRC, the rights apply to anyone under the age of 18.

The independent legal status of a child commences at birth. In any action to safeguard and protect an unborn child, the needs and rights of the mother must be taken into account.

The needs, rights, and mutual significance of siblings should be considered in any process that has a focus on a single child.(Staying together and connected: getting it right for sisters and brothers: national practice guidance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Further information on the definition of a child is available in Part 1 of the National Guidance for Child Protection.

A 'parent' is someone who is the genetic or adoptive mother or father of the child. This is subject to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008, which sets out which persons are to be treated as the parents of a child conceived through assisted reproduction.

All mothers automatically get parental responsibilities and rights (PRRs) for their child. A father also has PRRs automatically if he is or was married to the mother at the time of the child's conception, or subsequently. If a father is not married to the mother, he will acquire PRRs if he is registered as the child's father on the child's birth certificate, which requires the mother's agreement as this must have been registered jointly with the child's mother. A father can also acquire PRRs by completing and registering a Parental Responsibilities and Rights agreement with the mother or obtaining a court order.

Same-sex couples can adopt a child together. A same-sex partner has no automatic parental responsibilities and rights for their partner's children. If a child is conceived by donor insemination or fertility treatment on or after 6 April 2009, a same-sex partner can be the second legal parent. The second parent may hold parental responsibilities and rights if they were in married or in a civil partnership with the mother at the time of insemination/fertility treatment, or if the person is named as the other parent on the child's birth certificate and the birth was registered post 4 May 2006, or if the person completes and registers a Parental Responsibilities and Rights agreement with the mother. It is possible for a same sex partner to apply for parental responsibilities if none of these conditions apply. Parental responsibilities and rights.

Parental rights are necessary to allow a parent to fulfil their responsibilities, which include looking after their child's health, development and welfare, providing guidance to their child, maintaining regular contact with their child if they do not live with them, and acting as their child's legal representative. In order to fulfil these responsibilities, parental rights include the right to have their child live with them and to decide how their child is brought up. Parents continue to hold parental rights for a child unless and until these are removed. If this happens, it must be clear who does hold parental rights and responsibilities.

A 'carer' is someone other than a parent who is looking after a child. A carer may be a 'relevant person' within the children's hearing system. 'Relevant persons' have extensive rights within the children's hearing system, including the right to attend children's hearings, receive documents relating to hearings and appeal decisions taken within those proceedings. Relevant persons are 1) parents, whether or not they have parental rights and responsibilities (unless their parental rights and responsibilities have all been removed), 2) other persons, not parents, who have parental rights and responsibilities for a child, and 3) any person who has been deemed to be a relevant person by a children's hearing or pre-hearing panel on the basis that the person has, or has recently had, significant involvement in the upbringing of the child (section 200 and section 81(3) in the Children's Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011).

A 'kinship carer' is a carer for a child looked after by the local authority, where the child is placed with the kinship carer in accordance with Regulation 10 of the Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009 ('the 2009 Regulations'). In order to be approved as a kinship carer, the carer must be related to the child or a person who is known to the child and with whom the child has a pre-existing relationship ('related' means related to the child either by blood, marriage or civil partnership). Regulation 10 of the 2009 Regulations provides that a local authority may make a decision to approve a kinship carer as a suitable carer for a child who is looked after by that authority under the terms of section 17(6) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995.

Further information regarding definitions of parents and carers can be found in Part 1 of the National Guidance for Child Protection (2021).