"The prevailing realities of 'severely depressed' African economies make it difficult for children to enjoy the socio-economic rights guaranteed under the Children's Charter. This study takes the view that the responsibility of parents and the obligations of the state towards children's socio-economic rights must be mutually supportive. It therefore proposes the need for balancing parental responsibility and state obligations in the struggle to ensure that the socio-economic rights of children across the continent are met, albeit, under difficult economic circumstances. ... The study is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 has highlighted the structure of the entire discourse. Chapter 2 deals with the general perspectives of the socio-economic rights of children within the broad context of international human rights law. An overview of the normative and procedural framework of the Convention on the Rights of the Child is given. The chapter also examines the normative and procedural framework available for the protection of the child at the African regional level, the starting point of which is the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and eventually narrowed down to the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. Chapter 3 addresses the concept of parental responsibility. In particular, Africa's notion of parental responsibility is critically analyzed as a factor that makes a crucial difference to the interpretations of the underlying assumptions in the Children's Charter that the socio-economic rights of children could be met through the African communal and extended family network. Chapter 4 deals with states obligations in respect of the socio-economic rights of children. The South African jurisprudence on the rights of the child is also discussed in this chapter. The chapter also highlights the interplay between parental responsibility and state obligations in fulfilling the socio-economic rights of children. Chapter 5 consists of conclusions of the essay." -- Chapter 1. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa))--University of Pretoria, 2003. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

Child custody proceedings and the Cochem practice Abstract The aim of this thesis is to describe and define, as thoroughly as possible, the child welfare judicial proceedings, particularly the child access and custody proceedings pursuant to section 466 b) and d) of Act No. 292/2013 Coll., on special court proceedings, as amended and to inform about the possibilities of its improvement through the use of the methods of the Cochem practice. The thesis consists of three main parts - part one and two are dedicated to the child access and custody proceedings, part three provides the reader with information about the Cochem practice. The first part of the thesis describes the child custody and access proceedings in general, it provides general information about the subjects of the proceedings (with focus on the court and the proceedings parties), furthermore it describes the position of the children' social and legal protection authorities and the Office for International Legal Protection of Children. In order to fully explain the procedural law regarding the child custody proceedings, this part also describes the substantive law. The second part of the thesis is dealing with the legal framework of the child custody proceedings, it also provides a thorough insight into the different types of legal child custody...

Daktaro disertacija parengta tėvų atsakomybės vaikams tematika. Jurisdikcijos taisyklės, bendrosios nuostatos ir jų taikymas bylose dėl tėvų pareigų vaikams pagal Reglamentą Briuselis IIa yra pagrindinės problemos, patenkančios į empirinio tyrimo sritį. Disertacijoje pateikiama Europos Sąjungos Teisingumo Teismo praktikos analizė, o taip pat Lietuvos Respublikos bei kai kurių kitų Europos Sąjungos valstybių narių teismų praktikos analizė. Disertacinio tyrimo objektas apima jurisdikcijos taisykles ir bendrąsias procesines nuostatas reglamentuojančią tarptautinės teisės ir Europos Sąjungos teisės aktų sistemą bylų dėl tėvų pareigų vaikams vykdymo, kurios turi Europos Sąjungos elementą, nagrinėjimui. Tyrimo tikslas – išanalizuoti Reglamento nuostatas, reglamentuojančias jurisdikcijos taisykles ginčams, kylantiems dėl tėvų pareigų vaikams vykdymo, spręsti, atskleisti jų autentiško aiškinimo problematiką, taip pat atlikti išsamią bendrųjų procesinių nuostatų tokiose kategorijose bylų analizę bei empiriškai nustatyti, ar Reglamento nuostatos yra pakankamos ir veikia efektyviai, o taip pat, ar Lietuvos Respublikos teisinis reguliavimas bei tiesioginio Europos Sąjungos teisės taikymo praktika, nagrinėjant šeimos bylas dėl tėvų pareigų vaikams vykdymo, atitinka Europos Sąjungos Teisingumo Teismo formuojamą praktiką. Pabaigoje pateikiami Reglamento bei nacionalinio teisinio reguliavimo tobulinimo pasiūlymai. / Doctoral dissertation is devoted to the theme of parental responsibility. Rules of jurisdiction, common provisions and the application of them in parental responsibility cases under the Regulation Brussels IIa are main issues that fall within the scope of empirical research. The thesis produces a comprehensive analysis of the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union as well as the judicial practice of the national courts of the Republic of Lithuania and some other European countries. The object of the research encompasses the system of international and European instruments that regulate the rules of jurisdiction and common provisions for hearing parental responsibility cases that have European element. The goal of the research is to analyse the provisions of the Regulation, regulating the rules of jurisdiction for disputes arising in parental responsibility matters, also to reveal the problems of interpretation of these provisions and to fulfil a comprehensive analysis of common provisions that are applied in the above mentioned cases. Then to identify empirically if the provisions of the Regulation are sufficient and work effectively, and the national legislation, implementing the Regulation, and direct application of the Regulation is compatible with the aims of the European Union and the practice of the Court of Justice of the European Union. Finally, the proposals for the refinement of the Regulation text and national legislation are given.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka socialtjänstens perspektiv på hur föräldrar förändrar sina roller för att på bästa sätt kunna ta sitt föräldraansvar efter en separation, speciellt om en förälder brister i sin omsorg kring barnet och hur socialtjänsten ser på sin roll i den processen. Vi har genomfört tre fokusgruppsintervjuer; en barnutredningsgrupp och två grupper från familjerätten. Alla enheter vi besökte ligger i Stockholm. Respondenterna har i fokusgrupperna fått reflektera och diskutera sina uppfattningar kring temana föräldraansvar, oro kring den andre förälderns förmåga, roller i och kring familjen samt socialtjänstens roll. Vårt resultat har analyserats med hjälp av rollteorin och mentaliseringsbegreppet. Resultatet visade att i omskapandet av föräldrarollerna efter separation är samarbete samt att minimera konflikter mellan föräldrar grundläggande. I de fall socialtjänsten är i kontakt med föräldrarna så har även de en roll i föräldraansvaret, de strävar efter att vägleda föräldrarna mot ett fullgott ansvarstagande och se till att föräldrarna behåller barnperspektivet med barnets behov i fokus. Om en förälder har förmågan att mentalisera en annan människas situation och ser dennes behov så underlättar det omskapandet av föräldrarollen efter separation precis som det vidare underlättar om föräldrar har en fungerande kommunikation mellan varandra. Den roll som är mest komplex enligt oss är den som en orolig förälder har kring barnets vistelse hos den andra föräldern. Oavsett hur relationen till den andre är så ligger det i bådas ansvar att alltid säkerställa att barnet har det bra och inte far illa. / The purpose of this paper is to examine the perspective of the Swedish social services with regard to how parents change their roles in order to best take parental responsibility following separation. We particularly examine the perspective of the social services with regard to cases in which a parent has shortcomings in his or her care of the child and how the social services view their own role in this process. We conducted three focus group interviews: one involving a child protection investigation group and two involving family law groups. All of the units visited were in Stockholm, Sweden. The respondents in the focus groups were asked to reflect and discuss their views on the themes of parental responsibility, concern about the other parent’s capacity, roles in and involving the family, and the role of the social services. Our results were analysed using role theory and the concept of mentalisation. The results showed that in changing parental roles following separation, cooperation and minimising conflict between parents is fundamental. In cases in which the social services have contact with the parents, they too have a role in parental responsibility since they endeavour to guide the parents towards taking an adequate level of responsibility and ensure that the parents maintain a children’s perspective in which the needs of the child are in focus. If a parent has the ability to mentalise another person’s situation and see his or her needs, the changing of the parental role following separation is facilitated. Likewise, it also is beneficial if parents are able to communicate with each other. The role that is most complex, in our view, is that of a concerned parent with regard to the child staying with the other parent. Regardless of the nature of their relationship, it is the responsibility of both parents to always ensure that the child receives adequate care and does not come to harm.

This diploma thesis deals with sufficiently good parenthood from the perspective of social workers in the department of social and legal protection of children in the Czech Republic and Norway. The theoretical part deals with good parenting, social and legal protection of children and its institutions in the context of both countries, and with national and international legislative bases important for understanding the differences in the perception of respondents of both countries at this level. The research part focuses on the differences in the perception of sufficiently good parenthood by the respondents of the Czech Republic and Norway. Differences in respondents' views on individual areas of parenthood and in the concept of family law relationships from the perspective of the best interests of the child were mapped in a mixed study that combined quantitative and qualitative methodology. The quantitative data obtained in the first research study were processed by categorical data analysis, descriptive and correlation analysis. To solve the second research study, content analysis was used for qualitative data. The research offers a view only on the comparison of respondents' perceptions. The results of the first research study cannot be applied to the entire population of social workers in...

The purpose of this study was to investigate what different relevant professionals are experiencing regarding parental responsibility and commitment in their contact with juveniles and their parents. Our main focus was socially disadvantaged families. We also wanted to investigate the professionals' opinions on principal parental responsibility since the Swedish political party Moderaterna recently suggested the sum of joint and several liability should be raised in order to motivate parents to take responsibility and hinder their juveniles from committing criminal acts. A qualitative study was implemented and included six interviews. The informants are all employed in different fields of work in Malmö town in which they meet children and their parents, foremost in troublesome situations. Our empirical data were compared to and analysed with previous research data such as peer reviewed studies and scientific articles. This was carried out in combination with two theoretical perspectives relevant to the purpose of our study and its questions at issue. Most of the previous research indicates that juvenile delinquency is mainly contributed by structural problems and that different ways of punishing parents for the acts of their children seldomly increases the likelihood of decreased offending. On the contrary it seems to impair the situation of the affected families even more. The result of our empirical data showed that most of our informants did not regard parental commitment or responsibility as an issue or that the parents they meet lack these kinds of characteristics. Furthermore the overall opinion on a raised sum of joint and several liability was that it would serve no good since the main persuasion of the informants was that structural problems and lack of tools to control and monitor juveniles were the key issues.

The study examines a selection of guiding documents published by The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare and how they portray shared parental responsibilities when domestic violence take place. The aim is also to analyse the possible consequences of discourses about parenthood responsibilities when violence is involved. The thesis is based on discourse analysis, a feminist perspective and uses Bacchi’s “What’s the problem represented to be?” as a policy-analysis method. Two discourses were found. The discourse of gender-neutral parenthood tends to downplay violence by portraying it as a conflict between two parties. The discourse of shifting responsibility instead places the responsibility for the protection and welfare of children onto the abused parent only. In conclusion, the policy document under study frames shared parenting responsibilities in domestic violence situations within a social psychological understanding of violence, hence leaving a structural perspective out of the equation. / Denna studie granskar Socialstyrelsens kunskapsstöd som är vägledande i arbetet med våld i nära relationer med syftet att undersöka hur kunskapsstödet framställer föräldraskapets gemensamma föräldraansvar när det sker våld i nära relationer. Syfte är även att analysera vilka möjliga konsekvenser framställningar av ett gemensamt föräldraansvar kan få när våld förekommer. Med en utgångspunkt i diskursanalys, feministisk ansats samt Bacchis angreppssätt ”What’s the problemrepresented to be?” som metod identifierades och analyserades två olika diskurser. I diskursen om ett könsneutralt föräldraskap tenderar våldet att tonas ner till en konflikt mellan två parter. Diskursen om ansvarsförskjutning visade att det gemensamma föräldraskapets ansvarsskyldighet för barns skydd och omsorg förflyttas till enbart den föräldern som blir utsatt för våld. Studien visade att när det sker våld i nära relationer framställs det gemensamma föräldraskapet i policydokumentet utifrån en könsneutral socialpsykologisk förståelse som utelämnade ett strukturellt perspektiv på våld.

Resumé This thesis, dealing with rights of a child and duties of a parent, is based on the fact that it is primarily the parents who have to fulfill their duties towards children while a child has primarily the right that a parent fulfills duties towards him. This condition is justified by the fact that children are in relation to adults, in this thesis towards parents, traditionally considered as a weaker "element". Because of that, the attention is firstly paid to the rights of a child in a wider context. In the very beginning we take into consideration a historical context of the child's rights development that shows the contrast between a premodern period when a child was considered as almost powerless and without rights and a "progressive " 20th century when a lot of international documents concentrate solely on rights of a child. As a follow-up to the child's rights development, the attention is aimed on explanation of the terms "best interests of the child" and "child's welfare". The thesis also deals with participatory rights in relation to the law court and in relation towards parents. Because the role of a family is very important in a development and education of a child, the thesis also focuses on juridical protection of the family and explains the term "family" in the European system of the...

The Diploma Thesis called The exercise of parental responsibility by persons serving prison sentence deals with the institute of parental responsibility, which means fulfilling and execution of rights and duties of parents serving prison sentence towards their underage children. Legal framework of this institute pursuant to current legislation in the Civil Code is described in detail in the theoretic part, the next part deals with the execution of sentence prison sentence as a specific life circumstance in which a human being is caught in as a parent. The research survey carried out in selected Czech penitentiaries for execution of prison sentence of men and women. The thesis analyses the current legislation of rights and duties of parents serving prison sentence and maps their carrying out in practice. Using the quantitative methodology, the results of the research survey show that rights and duties of parents acknowledged by legislation and in practice of the Constitutional court of the Czech Republic are substantially restricted during the execution of prison sentence. This restriction is caused by system obstacles as well as material and legal ones, both on the side of convicted parent and on the side of penitentiary and other state and non- state subjects that are supposed to take part in the...

I denna studie har vi intervjuat nio polisanställda personer i syfte att undersöka hur Polismyndigheten arbetar med sexualbrott mot barn via internet. Vi studerade även hur ideella föreningars arbete påverkar Polismyndigheten. Samtliga intervjupersoner var positivt inställda till de ideella föreningarnas syfte att skydda barnen. Däremot fanns det varierande attityder gentemot deras arbetsmetoder. Resultatet av denna studie visade att de ideella föreningarna hade påverkan på Polismyndighetens arbete. De föreningar som lämnar information till polisen och utbildar samhället om barns utsatthet på nätet agerar som ett komplement till Polismyndigheten. Däremot försvårar de som konfronterar och offentliggör misstänkta polisens arbete, då den misstänkta kan radera bevismaterial och på andra sätt påverka utredningen negativt. Det fanns en variation i attityderna till dessa ideella föreningar inom Polismyndigheten; ju närmare internetrelaterade sexualbrott mot barn personen jobbar desto mer kritisk var intervjudeltagarna till vissa av de ideella föreningarnas tillvägagångssätt. Samtliga intervjupersoner belyste även föräldraansvaret. / In this study, nine police employees have been interviewed with the purpose to investigate how the Swedish police work against sexual crimes against children online. We also studied how non-profit organisations affected the police. All interviewees were positive to the non-profits’ purpose of protecting children, but less so to their methods. The results showed that non-profit organisations had an influence on police work. The organisations that provide the police with information and educate society act as a complement to the police. On the other hand, those who confront and expose potential suspects make the police’s work more difficult, as the potential suspect can delete evidence and in other ways influence the investigation negatively. There was a variation in attitudes towards the non-profits within the police. The closer you work to internet-related sexual crimes against children, the more critical they were of some non-profit organisations approach. All interviewees highlight parental responsibility.