This research seeks to contribute to the debate on the state infringing upon the responsibilities and rights of parents with regards to the reproductive health of their children. The qualitative method of research is used. The researcher analysed the right of the child to participate in conjunction with best interests of the child, as well as the reproductive rights of children. Furthermore, the argument is based on the provisions of the South African legislation that deals with the reproductive rights of children. This legislation includes the Children's Act 38 of 2005 and the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act 92 of 1996. The crux of the discussion is on access to contraceptives provided to children without parental consent, as it is provided for in section 134 of the Children's Act 38 of 2005, as well as the lack of consent needed in the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act 92 of 1996 for a girl with no specification of age. The debate is on the fact that the responsibilities and rights that parents have towards their children are not considered. They are not involved in the major decisions that the children who are under their care and guidance have to make. Due to this finding, it has been recommended that it is very imperative to allow the parents to be involved in matters that pertain to their children's reproductive rights. This means that as children are informed about their reproductive rights, the parents must be involved as well, so as to make informed decisions relevant to the issues that their children encounter. / LLM (Comparative Child Law), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Cochem model in the application practice of Czech courts Abstract The presented diploma thesis titled "The Cochemic Model in the Application Practice of the Czech Courts" deals with the main principles of the Cochem model, which is based on the cooperation of the professions involved in the divorce proceedings, and which is currently being gradually introduced by some of the Czech courts. The aim of the thesis is to find out the results of the first application approaches, on the basis of which it would be possible to determine the possibilities of further application of the presented model within the framework of Czech guardianship procedures. The second goal of the diploma thesis is the complex elaboration of the topic in terms of substantive and procedural law and further clarification of the current legislative situation, including the reflection over de lege ferenda. First of all, the diploma thesis introduces the origin of the Cochem model, moreover, it also presents its first application in Germany in the first chapter. The second chapter focuses on the importance of application of the presented model and its benefits for the participants in the proceedings. Within the chapter there are also presented the possibilities of applying a different substantive basis of parental responsibility within the...

In many of the disputes concerning custody, residence and visitation determined by the court, some form of violence has been performed. The consequence of a child who has witnessed violence in their homes is a problem that is sometimes overlooked. It is not unusual that the violence will continue even after a separation. The law shows that the child´s need of both parents is to be met. This has according to previous studies resulted in the fact that courts do not always see visitation with a violent parent as a risk for the child. This is the reason why we wanted to investigate this further. The aim of our study was to examine and describe how courts argue for decisions regarding a child's contact with a parent who is suspected of having used violence in the family, based on current laws. The method of the study was document analysis and the material consisted of ten Swedish court cases from the years 2010 and 2011. The starting point of the analysis was the sociology of childhood together with the concepts “child’s perspective” and “the perspective of the child”. The court cases were analyzed on basis of the law, our analytical framework and previous research. Our study shows that the court considers it important for the child with a near and well contact with both parents. The results also show that the will of the child not seems as important to take into account as the child’s best interests or the risk that the child gets hurt.

Since Convention on the Rights of the Child of the United Nations are released, children's best interests becomes the highest principle for every state having legal system to deal with children's affairs. So we can say that the first serious mission of the subject of modern parent and tot's relation is protecting minor children's interests, then keeping the marriage and family peace and stable identity relations and etc. is the next. And in order to reach the above-mentioned purpose, the numerous countries have begun to examine their law of the marriage and family, even some advanced countries have abolished the differentiation between legitimate and illegitimate children too, in order to reach the demand for this two equalization. Now people of our country and mainland China ( what follows we call them two sides) contact with each other frequently, and then the extramarital sexual intercourse of people of two sides becomes numerous, and the quantity of the legitimate children also increases year by year. Base this, the announcement of the Equal Principle between legitimate and illegitimate children in mainland China marriage law has a deep meaning, but when we review our country, we find that our law about children's affairs has no response for the above-mentioned things. Even now our law about children's affairs still maintain the differentiation of legitimate and illegitimate children and also especially discriminate against the children of the mainland China in "The ordinance of people's relationship between Taiwan and mainland China ". So this thesis's aim is checking the legal system related to legitimate and illegitimate children of two sides by the standard namely with the children's best interests and look over them to find they observe the standard namely with the children's best interests or not. By the way, this thesis will try to find the reason and the cause that helping legal system about legitimate and illegitimate children stand out ,and try to find the real way to make legitimate children equal with illegitimate children in the modern status which has varied family type and varied pattern of both sexes getting along with each other. To this end, the thesis want to set up a new ¡§legitimate children presumption¡¨system to adapt to the above-mentioned purpose, and doesn't make children unequal just because their parents aren't husband and wife , and our law ¡]or mainland China's law¡^about children's affairs will juxtapose advanced countries.

The purpose of this study is to describe and understand how the principle of the child’s best interest in the asylum process for families with children is interpreted and implemented in practice by the asylum bureaucrats at the Swedish Migration Agency. Our questions are: “How is the best interest of the child in families with children interpreted by the asylum bureaucrats at the Swedish Migration Agency?” "How are asylum bureaucrats at the Swedish Migration Agency reasoning about the implementation in practice of the child's best interest in families with children? The essay rests upon semi-structured interviews with eight asylum bureaucrats at three different asylum units. The interviews are based on an interview guide together with a vignette, which purpose was to see how the interviewees are implementing the best interest of the child in a specific case of a potential application. We are analyzing our results by using Lipsky’s theory of street-level bureaucrats and their professional discretion. We are also using Roine Johansson’s (2007) interpretation of Lipsky and Svensson et al., (2008) and their perspectives about professional discretion. Our main findings and conclusions in the study are showing that the asylum bureaucrats interpretations of the best interest of the child are statutory. According to the asylum bureaucrats, the main definition of the principle is related to the importance of talking with the children. These statements in the interviews also reflects how they look upon the implementation in practice of the child's best interest. The asylum bureaucrats felt they have a wide discretion in their everyday work.

Šiandien vaikas turi visas universalių žmogaus teisių dokumentų nuostatose įtvirtintas teises kaip suaugęs asmuo, tačiau to nepakanka. Nors vaikas yra kiekvienos visuomenės pagrindas bei ateitis, tačiau kartu jis yra kiekvienos visuomenės silpnoji dalis, priklausoma nuo aplinkos, dažniausiai nesugebanti apginti savo interesų, jo teises galima įgyvendinti tik per kitų asmenų – visų pirma, tėvų, teises ir pareigas. Tačiau daugeliu atvejų vaikų teisių ir teisėtų interesų pažeidimams atsirasti sąlygas sudaro būtent suaugusiųjų asmenų, tarpusavyje nesutariančių tėvų konfliktai. Vaikų, atsidūrusių tėvų konfliktų centre, padėtis yra reikalinga apmąstymų. Oficiali civilinių bylų statistika patvirtina, jog šiandien ginčų dėl vaikų gyvenamosios vietos nustatymo sprendimas teismine tvarka itin aktualus. Šių ginčų gausa įpareigoja valstybę bei visuomenę nebūti abejingais, kadangi adekvatus šių ginčų teisinis reglamentavimas gali kokybiškai užtikrinti vaiko teisių apsaugą. Darbe siekiama įvertinti, kaip įgyvendinami geriausi vaiko interesai sprendžiant ginčus dėl vaikų gyvenamosios vietos nustatymo, siekiama atskleisti šių ginčų probleminius aspektus, pasiūlyti galimus jų sprendimo būdus. Aptariamas teismo vaidmuo šio pobūdžio ginčuose, valstybinės vaiko teisių apsaugos institucijos dalyvavimas, siekiama įvertinti šių institucijų dalyvavimą geriausių vaiko interesų požiūriu. Analizuojamas pagrindinių principų, kuriais vadovaujantis sprendžiami ginčai dėl vaiko gyvenamosios vietos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Today a child is entitled with the same rights enshrined in the provisions of the universal human rights documents as an adult, but it is not enough. Though the child is the foundation and the future of each society, at the same time it is the weakest part of every society, dependent on the environment, often unable to defend its interests; its rights can only be realized through the other personsʼ, in particular, parental rights and responsibilities. However, in many cases, the conditions for infringement of the childrenʼs rights and legitimate interests occur due to the conflicts arising between the adults, arguing parents. The situation of children, who find themselves in the centre of conflict of their parents, is to be considered properly. The official statistics of the civil cases proves that today the question of judicial judgment of the disputes on establishment of the residence place of the child is of particular interest. Multiplicity of such disputes obligates the state and society not to be indifferent, because the adequate legal regulation of these disputes can ensure the quality of protection of the childrenʼs rights. Masterʼs thesis aims to access realization of the best interests of the child in resolution of disputes regarding establishment of the residence place of the child, to determine the problematic aspects of these disputes, to offer possible solutions. Masterʼs thesis discusses the role of the court in such disputes, participation of the state child... [to full text]

‘(…) to ensure equality for all children, this Regulation covers all decisions on parental responsibility, including measures for the protection of the child, independently of any link with matrimonial proceedings.' [Recital 5 of Brussels II bis] Brussels II bis (Council Regulation 2201/2003) complements the Hague Convention on Child Abduction, with its well-established set of international rules and the related definitions based on a considerable body of case law. The interrelation has given rise to difficulties of application and issues of interpretation despite the existence of a set of rules supposed to regulate the complementary structures. Besides this interrelation, the Regulation interacts with the Hague Convention on Child Protection. Though Brussels II bis has been analysed with regard to different single aspects, it has not yet been considered which consequences the actual provisions of the Regulation and the ECJ’s decisions have both on the interrelation and its application in the national courts. It has further hitherto not been critically analysed whether the Regulation and the judgments of the ECJ take the right direction to meet the ambitious aim defined in the preamble and throughout the text, respecting the ‘best interests’ of the child. Now that a decade of Brussels II bis has passed and with a series of pioneer cases decided by the ECJ and with an intervention of the ECtHR in Convention and Regulation cases, the Regulation’s effectiveness is worthy of critical consideration. Despite the existence of some specific rules on the interrelation of the Regulation and the Conventions, their very co-existence gave rise to various interacting situations and questions of interpretation. For courts familiar with the rules of the Convention on Child Abduction and with at least their own respective national case law arising under it, the application of the added layer of rules of the Regulation and the interpretation of its different concepts was and still remains a challenge. A comparison of Brussels II bis with the two international instruments with regard to the role of ‘habitual residence’ and the suitability of the other central concepts of the provisions for the particularity of family disputes will demonstrate the differences of cases involving the Regulation and those involving the Conventions. III By governing jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement of judgments and orders relating to parental responsibility, the Regulation has a very wide application covering, for example, custody, access, guardianship and even placement of children in foster or institutional care. Further, Brussels II bis takes up concepts which lie at the very heart of the application of the Convention on Child Abduction and about which there is extensive jurisprudence. This thesis will explore a selection of legal issues arising from the interrelation between these private international law instruments dealing with parental responsibility and child abduction which the national courts applying the Regulation are confronted with. The question whether Brussels II bis is an effective instrument which has strengthened the return mechanism under the Convention on Child Abduction and can work hand in hand with the Convention on Child Protection is also important to critically evaluate. It will be considered if the provisions in the Regulation have been drafted clearly enough and the concepts defined so well that they promote the interests of the children concerned, where the provisions are complementing the Convention on Child Abduction, and has learned from the latter’s flaws so as to enhance the recognition and enforcement processes related to child abduction. It will be concluded whether or not the Regulation is an advancement only in terms of having implemented efficient, intra-Community provisions on jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement or a real advancement supporting the ‘best interests’ of the child(ren), despite the complications of application it has introduced.

No description available.

Legal rules regarding unaccompanied refugee children in the European Union (EU) are closely related to the refugee crisis and the community’s asylum policy. This study aims to investigate how the best interests of the unaccompanied refugee child is being ensured under EU law. Dworkin’s theory and various methods are used to answer the research question. Firstly, the focus is, with the use of the chosen theoretical framework and international legal method, on the interpretation of the principle of “the best interests of the child”. Secondly, the thesis studies how this principle is reflected in the EU law in relation to unaccompanied refugee children, by applying EU legal method. This study shows, on the one hand, that there are a few anomalies in the EU legislation in the area of asylum that arise with regard to the best interests of the unaccompanied refugee child. It is argued that the European Union’s restrictive asylum legislation leads to conflicts between the international law and the EU law. On the other hand, the thesis demonstrates that the EU law has continuously improved, and the international child rights principle was adopted in it. It will be shown in this study that despite the common asylum policy and the community acquis, the EU Member States’ domestic law enables different assessments of the best interests of the unaccompanied child. The solution of normative conflicts is also in the hands of the EU countries, since the status determination of refugees and the assessment of the child’s best interests are carried out by the EU Member States. This will be confirmed by analysing the most important applicable EU laws, particularly the Proposal for a Regulation establishing a Union Resettlement Framework. The Proposal is chosen for discussion, because this is an essential part of the Common European Asylum System and is consistent with two packages of legislative proposals to reform it. The conclusion of this thesis is that the best interests principle is guaranteed in the EU law, but it is not guaranteed in the spirit of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and further improvements are needed in the EU legal framework.

Syftet med denna kvalitativa dokumentstudie har varit att analysera rättsliga konstruktioner av barnrättsdiskursen i umgängesmål när föräldern utövat fysiskt eller sexuellt våld mot barnet eller den andre föräldern. Studiens frågeställningar bestod av att besvara hur diskursen kring barnets bästa samt föräldrarätten framställs och konstrueras i tingsrättens bedömningar. För att uppfylla studiens syfte har en tematisk analys av 14 domar om umgänge från en tingsrätt i Sverige 2022 genomförts. Studien har en socialkonstruktionistisk ansats och det teoretiska ramverket består av begreppet diskurs samt ett rättsligt perspektiv. Författarna har undersökt två huvudteman bestående av de två aktuella diskurserna samt flera underkategorier kopplat till tecken som lyfte fram olika aspekter av diskurserna. Under huvudtemat kring barnets bästa hittade författarna tre aspekter som tingsrättens använde för att konstruera begreppet i sina bedömningar. Dessa aspekter bildade underkategorierna; barnets åsikter - barnet som subjekt eller objekt, barnets behov av skydd och barnets behov av en god kontakt med båda föräldrarna. Under huvudtemat diskursen kring föräldrarätten fann författarna två underkategorier, den synliga föräldrarätten och det diskursiva förhållandet mellan barnet och föräldern. Studiens analys visade att de två huvudsakliga spåren tingsrätten gick på i skapandet av diskursen kring barnets bästa var behovet av god kontakt med föräldrar alternativt behovet av att skydda barnet. Vidare visade analysen på brister vad gäller att låta barnen komma till tals i tingsrättens bedömning då beskrivningar av barnets vilja helt saknades i 12 av 23 fall. I 10 av 23 fall beviljades umgänge trots att barnets inte fått komma till tals alternativt att tingsrätten inte tillmätt barnets åsikter betydelse. Vad gäller föräldrarätten hittade författarna tre fall där förälderns behov uttalat påverkade bedömningen. Angående det diskursiva förhållandet mellan barnet och föräldern fann författarna att barnets bästa premieras i 12 fall utifrån att barnets behov av skydd ledde till avslag alternativt att barnets vilja att träffa föräldern var grund för besluetet att asvlå eller bevilja umgänge. I 10 fall ansåg författarna att föräldrarättsdiskursen indirekt premierades framför barnets bästa då behovet av god kontakt med föräldern ledde till beviljat umgänge trots att barnets åsikter inte tillmätts betydelse. Med det sagt, kan det konstateras att tingsrätten i samtliga av sina bedömningar hänvisar till barnets bästa.