Protection of the rights of children in marital-family disputes

On April 23-24 2019, Academy of Justice within its Continuous Training Program with the support of UNICEF conducted training on “Protection of the rights of children in marital-family disputes”.

Purpose of this training was to extend the judges knowledge on implementation of efficient protection of the children rights during the procedure of divorce, and correct application of the law in cases of entrusting, guarding and care of children.

First day of this training covered the following aspects: principles for protecting the rights of children according to national and international legislation, criteria taken into account in ceases if entrusting the child, and principles for setting the alimony. Whereas the second day of the training focused on: active role of the court in these disputes, and international children abduction in civil cases – the procedure.

Highlight of the training were the marital-family disputes and their increasingly growing number in courts. It was concluded that marital-family disputes are very complex because of their nature, and role of the court in these disputes is not only to review but investigative as well. Parallel to analysis of the court’s role in marital-family disputes, the training tackled also the children abduction, because this topic is regulated by law since 2010, and it is a novelty to our judicial system.

Through comparative analysis, the participants were provided recommendations for the active role that the court shall have in cases when minors are part of the proceeding’s. In this light, it was emphasized that the judges and other staff involved in proceedings where protection of the children rights is necessary, they shall be professionally competent to apply the highest national and international standards, provide to the children protection of their rights according to principles of the best interest for the minors, which shall be the dominating target in each case and procedure.

This training, based on judicial case law provided answers to questions and dilemmas, analyzing national legislation on issues of protection and the children rights in the marital-family disputes.

Beneficiaries were judges of the Appeals court, judges of basic courts, professional associates and officials of the Custody Body.