Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka ett antal familjehemsföräldrars erfarenheter av att befinna sig i en juridisk process, där det placerade barnets biologiska förälder gjort en hemtagningsbegäran och yrkat på att vården enligt LVU skall upphöra. Mer specifikt avser studien att beskriva hur familjehemsföräldrarna upplever den juridiska processen avseende de placerade barnens känslomässiga, beteendemässiga och sociala utveckling, sin egen relation med barnen, kontakten med barnens biologiska föräldrar samt kontakten med barnets omgivande professionella nätverk. Studien bygger på kvalitativa halvstrukturerade intervjuer med åtta familjehemsföräldrar i fyra olika familjehem. Familjehemmen är geografiskt åtskilda och belägna på olika platser i Sverige. Som teoretiska ramverk har ett anknytningsteoretiskt perspektiv och teorier om barn och trauma använts. Tidigare studier och forskning visar på att de familjehemsplacerade barnen är en särskilt utsatt grupp i samhället och att barnens rättsskydd är mycket begränsat. Resultatet i denna studie utgör inget undantag. Intervjupersonerna beskriver att barnen under den juridiska processen är utsatta för mycket stark psykisk stress. Barnen uppvisar svåra psykiska symptom som tydligt följer den juridiska processens faser. I den stund de nås av hotet om uppbrott så ökar barnens symptom med dissociation, tilltagande mardrömmar samt svårigheter att hålla urin och avföring. Studien bekräftar således tidigare forskning som visar på att placerade barn ständigt omges av en oro och osäkerhet kring placeringens varaktighet och stabilitet i tillvaron. Även familjehemsföräldrarnas situation är utsatt. Flera av intervjupersonerna beskriver att de mått mycket dåligt under de omständigheter som den juridiska processen medför. Familjehemsföräldrarna upplever en känsla av maktlöshet och att de sviker barnen. Maktlösheten uppkommer också utifrån familjehemmens svaga rättsliga ställning som innebär att de inte är någon part i de rättsliga processerna och kan således inte driva barnens intressen. Resultatet visar också på brister i stödet, både till familjehemmen och barnen. Barnen som är i stort behov av terapeutisk behandling förvägras detta då det terapeutiska arbetet förutsätter stabilitet, vilket paradoxalt nog är det som saknas i dessa barns tillvaro. Utifrån ett anknytningsteoretiskt perspektiv så innebär otryggheten och avsaknaden av förutsebarhet under placeringen att barnen varken får möjlighet att knyta an till familjehemsföräldrarna eller hjälp med att separera från de biologiska föräldrarna.

Anthropological and demographic studies show that in sub-Sahara Africa a large proportion of non-orphaned children (up to 1/3 in many communities) live with neither parent but often with relatives for a significant part of their childhood. This practice is referred to as child fostering or fosterage. Child fostering is therefore understood in the literature as the transfer, and/or sharing, of parental responsibility of children and young people or simply the movement of children and young people between and within families. The practice is both an age-old and a modern phenomenon which has implications in the daily and future lives of those children involved including their nutrition, health, education, migration and ultimately their best interests. Depending on the context, culture, rationale and families involved in the fostering of a particular child the practice is carried out differently across geographies and sometimes within geographies as a result of which it deserves academic attention. The overarching aim of this study is therefore to explore the cultural conceptualisations and understandings of child fostering and the concept of the child's best interests among the Dagomba of northern Ghana. The study also examines the challenges of existing legislation and policies in Ghana regarding the practice. The study employed a qualitative research approach and involved children and young people, birth and foster parents and professionals who influence policies about children and young people in Ghana. In total, 42 respondents participated in individual interviews. I also used 'spider diagrams' as a supplementary research instrument for children and young people because I considered these child-friendly, fun and culturally appropriate for their ages (See Appendix IX). The emergent themes are explored and discussed in four findings chapters under part four of the thesis. The majority of respondents demonstrated extensive knowledge about child fostering and the concept of the child's best interests. Respondents' critical views and their recommendations for legislation and policy in Ghana are reflected on in the penultimate chapter. Finally, recommendations are made by way of contribution to theory, policy and practice. The research also suggests areas for future research by way of a reflection.

If altruistic surrogacy should be legal in Sweden, laws concerning screening of the parents should be mandatory and adoption should be promoted as an alternative to surrogacy to a larger extent. Both in surrogacy and adoption the best interest of the child should be a priority, but parents regardless of sexuality, income and to some extent age, should qualify as long as they can prove their ability as parents.

Foster care, which represents the most common form of substitute family care in many developed countries including Czech Republic, constitutes the topic of this thesis. Foster care is managed, controlled and financed by the state. Its purpose is to provide a foster home for child, whose parents cannot, do not want to, or fail to take care of for various reasons. In Czech Republic foster care has undergone an interesting development, which reflected situation at the time, as well as empirical and theoretical knowledge in this area. Under the Communist regime, which idealized institutional care, foster care was even canceled a number of years. At present, foster care is widely used and supported by the state. Experts stress the importance of long-term foster care and her ability to redress psychological deprivation in children. On the other side, the experts warn of dire psychological consequences of institutional care. According to the Act No. 89/2012 Coll., civil code as well as several international conventions, substitute family care takes precedence over institutional care. The diploma thesis defines the basic concepts related to foster care (the right to respect for family life, the best interests of the child, substitute care for children, substitute family care, foster care and foster care for...

The thesis concentrates on the topic of legal position of a child and his or her participation rights. It is drawn as a comparative study and focuses on comparing the legislation concerning participation rights of the child in the Russian Federation and the Czech Republic. The main goal of the thesis is to find identical or similar elements in the legislation regarding the child's legal position and his/her participation rights. Adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989 was followed by a changed approach of its member states towards the legal position of the child. States enlisted provisions into their legislation that held a child not only as a passive holder of rights but an active subject that is able to exercise those rights after fulfilling legal conditions. The important aspect on which the thesis also focuses is assessing whether the participation rights of a child are really being applied in practice or they are up to the present day rather a theoretical construction. The thesis is divided into an introduction, four main chapters, which are further divided into subsections, and a conclusion. The first chapter deals with fundamental terms, which are crucial in relation to the legal position of a child and his/her participation rights. Firstly, a definition of "a child" is...

This study in comparative public law analyses if the courts have decided in the best interest of the child when judging for immediate care due to domestic violence. Both Sweden and Norway have transformed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) article 3 in parts of their national legislation. The difference between the countries is that Norway in 2003 incorporated CRC as a part of their legal policy, Sweden, on the other hand, has not integrated CRC in their national laws. There is a need for research if and how the local authorities and the courts in the two countries live up to the concept for the best interest of the child. Six court decisions from both countries as well as the development of the national legislation will be analyzed. To achieve our purpose, we will use the comparative and dogmatic legal method. The comparative method will be used when we compare the similarities and differences between their national legal system and the court's judgment for immediate care for the best interest of the child. The dogmatic legal method will be used for defining the current law. The results of this study indicate that Norway has more appropriate laws for the best interest of the child. The difference between the countries is that in Norway the court can decide based on their child specific law. While the courts in Sweden only can decide for the best interest of the child with the interpretation based on the two laws but the code is not just for the child. Despite the differences, both Sweden and Norway have appropriate laws for how the local authorities and the court should promote the best interest of the child. In the future, we hope that it would be easier for the Swedish courts to apply the best interest of the child when CRC has been incorporated into the national legislation.

Sverige ratificerade FN: s konvention om barnets rättigheter i juni 1990 och blev därmed bundet att respektera principerna och bestämmelserna i konventionen. I december 2010 godkände riksdagen den av regeringen föreslagna strategi som ska stärka barnets rättigheter i Sverige och som därmed ersätter den strategi som gällt sedan 1999. Strategin innehåller ett antal principer som bland annat syftar till att ett barnperspektiv ska införlivas i alla beslut och åtgärder som rör barn. Att ha ett barnperspektiv i sin yrkesutövning innebär bland annat att ha barnet i fokus samt att ta reda på hur barnet uppfattar sin situation. Därtill handlar det även om att göra barnkonsekvensanalyser vid beslut som rör barn. I strategin omnämns förutom kommuner och landsting också riksdag, regering och statliga myndigheter som viktiga för genomförandet av konventionen. Socialtjänsten är dessutom den myndighet som ytterst ska bevaka barnets rättigheter genom att utifrån lagstiftning agera till ett barns skydd. Tidigare forskning visar att risken för social och ekonomisk marginalisering ökar avsevärt när människor vräks och att det inte tas någon särskild hänsyn till barn vid vräkningar, vidare talas det inte alls om de barn som riskerar att vara med om att deras hem säljs vid en exekutiv auktion. En vräkning påverkar barnets hela livssituation och kan innebära att barnet måste bryta upp från sitt liv så som det känner det. Innan en vräkning verkställs föreligger en vräkningsprocess där flera aktörer är inblandade, vilka enligt ovan nämnda resonemang är ålagda att ha ett barnperspektiv i sitt yrkesutövande. Vi anser därför att det är viktigt att öka kunskap om hur dessa myndigheter har implementerat barnperspektivet i sitt arbete med vräkningshotade barnfamiljer. Vårt resultat visar att implementeringen av ett barnperspektiv inom socialtjänst, hyresnämnd och kronofogdemyndighet gällande vräkningshotade barnfamiljer av olika anledningar inte har fungerat, något som kan finna sin förklaring i de lagar och riktlinjer som dessa myndigheter främst har att förhålla sig till. Något som också försvårar praktiken är begreppets komplexa och ibland svårtydda innebörd. Vidare pekar resultatet också på att det finns motstridiga intressen gällande vems intressen man främst ska företräda.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how family law secretaries in Sweden works with fulfilling the best interests of the child in collaboration talks and how they get children involved in the process. I have performed five semi-constructed interviews with family law secretaries from different municipalities. In order to achieve broader answers to my questions I have chosen to use a qualitative method. This method was also chosen to enable the possibility of follow-up questions. I gathered data from previous research in this area by searching after these keywords; child’s best, collaboration talk, custody, family law, children’s participation in investigations. The collected data was then analyzed with three different theories; Michael Lipsky’s theory about grass root bureaucrats, Svensson, Johansson & Laanemets’ theory about the social worker role and Roger Hart’s participation model.  The participants that were interviewed all stated that it was difficult to fulfill the child’s best as it is an open concept that can be interpreted differently depending on the secretary’s individual knowledge and scope. Among the participants there were some of them that had deeper knowledge concerning the principle of the child’s best. This knowledge had been achieved through further education which ensures higher certainty that the child’s best has been fulfilled, but also raises awareness on when participation of the child in collaboration talk is possible. For those secretaries that are lacking this deeper knowledge in this principle agree that there are difficulties to ensure that the child’s best has been fulfilled. Because of the difference in knowledge there were variances in deciding when it was possible for a child to participate in the collaboration talk. Some of the secretaries thought that it was important to get the children involved in collaboration talks, but some thought that collaboration talks were not a platform for small children to participate in. This means that children are encountered in different ways depending on which family law secretary they meet and in what municipality the collaboration talk is held in.

Legal position of a child with regard to the right of participation This thesis is constructed as a comparison of the legal position of a child in the Czech Republic and England. The aim is to discuss the rights of a child in general with special regard to his or her right of participation and to evaluate how the rights are respected in both states. This thesis mainly underlines the common aspects as well as the main differences in the legislation while suggesting some possible changes. After the introduction, there are four main chapters subsequently divided into subsections. The first chapter explains the terms "child" and "the best interests of a child". The concept of "the best interests of a child" is firstly discussed in accordance with the General Comments published by the Committee on the Rights of the Child followed by the explanation on how the legislation of the compared states understands this term. The second chapter discusses how the rights of a child developed in the last decades whereas the starting point from which we generally speak about children rights is the beginning of the 20th century. The most important international agreements are mentioned, for example the Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child of 1924, Declaration of the Rights of the Child of 1959, International...

L'intérêt supérieur de l'enfant est un principe international proclamé à l'article 3-1 de la Convention internationale des droits de l'enfant. L'exercice de l'autorité parentale est dominé par la prise en compte de ce principe.La notion d'intérêt supérieur de l'enfant présente une unité à l'échelle européenne. Contribuent à la préciser des éléments de contenu éclairés par la mise en évidence d'une grille de lecture dégagée à partir de l'analyse de la jurisprudence interne et européenne. En outre, les arrêts de la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme fondent l'émergence d'éléments de caractérisation permanents mais non cumulatifs et parfois s'excluant : le maintien de relations personnelles entre l'enfant et ses père et mère d'une part ; un environnement sain autour de l'enfant, d'autre part. La notion d'intérêt supérieur de l'enfant révèle son autonomie par l'existence de moyens d'appréciation, modalités et modes propres. Cette autonomie se trouve étroitement liée à l'impact qu'offre à la notion sa réception dans les différentes législations européennes. Cette large consécration se trouve confortée par le développement d'un contrôle de conventionnalité révélateur de la véritable nature de l'intérêt supérieur de l'enfant. L'intérêt supérieur de l'enfant constitue désormais une notion clef dans le domaine de l'exercice de l'autorité parentale. Il fonde un nouvel ordre public protecteur de l'enfant à l'échelle européenne. Sa primauté s'impose corrélativement de plus en plus nettement. Surgissent toutefois des conflits entre cet intérêt supérieur et d'autres intérêts ou principes concurrents. In fine, l'unité et l'autonomie de l'intérêt supérieur de l'enfant, désormais notion de droit, devraient asseoir une effective protection de l'enfant en Europe. / The child's highest interest is an international principle that has been announced in the 3-1 article of the International Bureau for Children's' Rights. This principle dominates the exercise of the parental authority.The notion of the child's highest interest is seen as a unit at the European scale. It can be clarified thanks to a key to read that has been highlighted from the French and European jurisprudence and which contains some content elements. Besides the appearance of characterization's elements is based on the Human Rights European Court's judgements. Those elements are permanent, non-cumulative and sometimes they can become mutually exclusive such as the maintenance of individual relations between the child and his parents or a healthy environment around the child. The notion of the child's highest interest is autonomous by judgment resources, modes and own methods. This autonomy is slightly linked to the notion's impact in the different European legislations. This large recognition is strengthened by the increase of a conventionality review that reveals the real nature of the child's highest interest. The child's highest interest is from now on part of a key notion in the area of the parental authority's exercise. It creates a new public order that protects the child at the European scale. Its primacy establishes itself more and more clearly. However, some conflicts between the highest interest and other concerted interests and principles suddenly appear. Ultimately, the unit and autonomy of the child's highest interest, which is from now on a law notion, should base an effective protection of the child in Europe.