As a parent, you have the right to maintain a personal relationship and direct contact with your child. At the same time your child has the right to contact both of his/her parents, too. Your parental access rights are protected by the human right to family life.
Contact & Information about a child
There may be several reasons why you may be separated from your child. It may be your choice to live separately, or a situation brought about by the decision of a state institution, such as placing your child into public care or a criminal conviction resulting in a prison sentence. However, as a parent you have a right and obligation to maintain personal relations and direct contact with your child. At the same time, your child enjoys the right to maintain direct contact with both parents. Access rights are protected by the human right to family life.
The parent who does not live with the child has the right to receive information about him/her, especially information regarding the child’s development, health, educational progress, interests and domestic circumstances.
important Your parental access rights are not terminated at all by the taking of a child into out-of-family care with or without the withdrawal of your parental rights. In such a case, the legal guardian, foster family, child care institution or a social care institution may facilitate the communication between you and your child if the local guardian authority grants you leave to meet your child. Considering the child’s opinion is mandatory, in accordance with his age and maturity. Meetings are not approved if the contact of the parent with their child may cause physical or intellectual damage, if it’s obvious that the parents aren’t capable of contact, or, if due to some reasons, the contact contradicts the child’s interests or if, during judicial debates, the child had serious objections to the parents whose rights were withdrawn.
Determination of access
If a child is living together with one parent, both parents may mutually agree on the exercise of access rights by the other parent. This agreement should include the time (length and frequency), place and duration of meetings. If both parents cannot reach an agreement, this may be determined by the local guardian authority, which decision may be challenged in court. The parents are encouraged to contact a (professional) mediator to settle the dispute.
If a child is separated from a family (taken out of a family) with or without withdrawing parental rights, the exercise of parental access rights shall be determined by the local guardian authority on basis of the court decision.
Restrictions & Termination of access rights
Restrictions on the exercise of access rights, including a total prohibition of access, may be established:
- by a civil court or by the local guardian authority, which decision may be challenged in court, if both parents cannot agree on the exercise of access
- by the local guardian authority or by the court, if the child has been taken out of the family
Local guardian authority
When parents live separately and child lives with one of them, if both parents cannot agree on the exercise of access rights, the dispute is to be settled by the local guardian authority, which decision may be challenged in court. When establishing the meeting schedule, following criteria and factors are taken into account: the child's attachment to each of the parents, brothers and sisters, the child's age and school attendance/participation in extracurricular activities, the moral qualities of the parents, the relationships between the child and each parent, the proximity of the residence of the parent who lives separately from the child. The decision must suppose that parental rights would be exercised in a fair way.
The local guardian authority may also restrict your access rights in the context of proceedings supposing taking the child out of the family (with or without withdrawal of parent’s rights), if such contact would harm the child’s health, development and safety. Access may also be restricted if contact with the child would threaten his/her legal guardian, foster family, employees of the child care institution, a social care institution or other children.
Court
A court decision on withdrawal of your parent’s rights or on taking the child out of the family without withdrawal of parent’s rights may have the effect of restricting your access rights, if such a decision is taken to protect the child’s interests. In these cases, the local guardian authority may decide on the time (length and frequency), place and duration of meetings. If necessary, meetings with the child can only take place in the presence of a specific person (access person).
important A decision may be taken to fully deprive you of your parental access for a limited time, if such contact would harm the child’s interests and a denial of access is the only measure to avoid it.
A court may also be called to decide on your access rights, if the local guardian authority’s decision on the issue was challenged or in the course of specific proceedings regarding domestic violence, when a protection order prohibits the aggressor to contact the victim and her children.
important Your parental access rights will also be irrevocably terminated from the moment your child is adopted by another person.
Change of circumstances
You may request a civil court or the local guardian authority to reassess the situation and cancel restrictions on your parental access rights if the circumstances which were at the basis of these restrictions have changed.
Length of the decision-making & Enforcement process
The obligation to respect your right to family life requires that any issues regarding parental access in the future should be determined as soon as possible. Proceedings should not be unnecessarily delayed by state institutions.
If you have been granted access rights to a child, it is in your interests that this decision be enforced as soon as possible. A delayed enforcement procedure may violate your right to family life.
If the other parent does not obey the decision regarding your parental access rights, effective sanctions may be requested to be taken out against him/her to ensure the exercise of your rights. Read more about sanctions in the Contraventions Code and in the Criminal Code, as well about the enforcement procedure in the Execution Code.
What human rights violation may there be?
Unlawful restrictions of your parental access rights may violate your right to family life. If you have not been involved in the decision-making procedure regarding these rights, your right to a fair hearing may also have been violated.
Read more about whether your access rights have been lawfully restricted by the local guardian authority or court.
Read more about how to complain in order to protect your rights.