Print
See related documents
Resolution 1908 (2012)
Human rights and family courts
1. The Parliamentary Assembly is concerned
about the functioning of family courts in some member States of
the Council of Europe, and especially about cases where children
are taken away against the will of their parents and in violation
of the right to respect for family life and the principle of a fair
trial.
2. Recalling its previous work on this subject, and in particular Recommendation 874 (1979) on
a European Charter on the Rights of the Child and Recommendation 1121 (1990) on
the rights of children, the Assembly reaffirms its commitment to
defend and promote the rights and welfare of children.
3. The Assembly recalls that a family environment offers the
best conditions for the proper development of children. Before children
are placed in the care of outsiders or in institutional care, their
own families should be granted any assistance needed in order to
cope with their problems.
4. Consequently, children should only be separated from their
parents in very exceptional circumstances, subject to judicial review
and in line with the requirements stemming from the European Convention
on Human Rights (ETS No. 5) and the 1989 United Nations Convention
on the Rights of the Child.
5. The Assembly therefore calls on member States to:
5.1. fully implement the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child;
5.2. if they have not yet done so, sign and/or ratify the relevant
Council of Europe conventions on the rights of children, in particular
the European Convention on the Adoption of Children (Revised) (CETS No. 202)
and the European Convention on the Exercise of Children’s Rights
(ETS No. 160);
5.3. promote, disseminate and monitor the implementation of
the 2010 “Guidelines of the Committee of Ministers of the Council
of Europe on child-friendly justice”;
5.4. ensure that domestic procedures concerning the adoption
and placing into care of children are established in line with the
principles stemming from the European Convention on Human Rights;
5.5. ensure that the competent domestic authorities, when deciding
on the adoption and/or placing into care of children:
5.5.1. take
into account the requirements stemming from the European Convention
on Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights
of the Child;
5.5.2. give priority to the best interests of the child;
5.5.3. provide practical assistance to families in trouble so
as to minimise the number of cases in which a child must be separated
from his or her parents;
5.5.4. act speedily so as to avoid irreversible damage to the
parties’ family life;
5.6. continue to support the relevant activities of the Council
of Europe bodies in the field of child protection and welfare.