Illustrative stock photo (source: SME)
The Justice Ministry has introduced the draft regulation to change rules for cases concerning adolescents. It was prepared following the adoption of new codes for civil procedures which will come into force on July 1.
The draft responds to the problems which have emerged during the enforcement of rulings concerning small children, including the recent case in which a first-grader was taken directly from his classroom at the primary school in Brehy (Banská Bystrica Region), the SITA newswire reported.
The draft regulation follows three basic principles resulting from the Convention on the Rights of the Child: the principle of the best interests of the child, respect for children’s rights and the principle of hearing the child’s opinion.
Under the new rules, the courts will have to check whether there are “excusable reasons” for which the ruling cannot be implemented. The aim is to correct the current practice of some courts.
“We register cases that courts, after submitting a proposal to carry out the ruling, automatically issue fines for not arranging a meeting of a parent and a child,” Justice Ministry’s spokesperson Peter Bubla said, as quoted by SITA.
The fines are imposed even without checking the reasons why the meeting did not take place, he added.
The courts will also be enabled to order parents and their children to attend social or psychological consulting as the practice showed that consulting or mediation is a good way to avoid forceful taking of a child, SITA reported.
