Parental rights entail the right and obligation to care for your child and your child’s property, as well as to represent him/her. Your parental rights are protected by the human right to family life.
Content of parental rights
As a parent, you exercise your parental rights over your child until he/she reaches the age of majority. The main rights and obligations related to parental rights in Moldova are set out in the Family Code.
Care
Care for a child encompasses such aspects as providing for the maintenance, including financial contribution to the child’s everyday needs, health care, upbringing and education. The fulfilment of these commitments is indispensable for a child’s complete mental and physical development.
Supervision
You must ensure the safety of your child and as far as reasonably possible protect him/her from potential danger posed by other persons.
Determination of the place of residence
You have the right to choose the place of residence of your child, which includes the choice of:
- the geographical place of residence, namely, the particular country and city/town, and
- the particular home
Joint & Separate exertion of parental rights
Parents may exercise their rights jointly or individually. Parental rights may be exercised individually if separate exertion of parental rights is agreed upon by the parents or determined by a court. One parent also exercises parental rights separately if the other parent has been fully deprived of parental rights. Read more about different types of parental rights.
Termination of parental rights
Parental rights are terminated on a child’s or parent’s death, the child’s adoption, or withdrawal of parental rights. A child may also be taken into social care with or without withdrawing parental rights.
Read more about social care without withdrawing parental rights and withdrawal of parental rights.
Length of decision-making & Enforcement process
Effective respect for family life requires that the placement of the child in social care without the termination of parental rights, the termination of parental rights, their restriction and any disputes related to them should be decided as soon as possible. State authorities should conduct parental proceedings with extra care and not cause unnecessary delays.
If you have been granted separate custody over your child, the enforcement of this decision as soon as possible is in your interests. A prolonged enforcement procedure may violate your right to a private and family life. One can also request that effective sanctions provided by the Contraventions Code and the Criminal Code are imposed on the other parent if he/she does not obey the court’s decision. Read more about the enforcement procedure in the Execution Code.
What human rights violation may there be?
The withdrawal and taking of a child into social care without the termination of parental rights may violate your right to family life. The delayed enforcement of a favorable to you judgment on separate custody or on annulment of restrictions on your parental rights, may also violate your right to family life and right to a fair trial.
If your child is taken into social care without terminating your parental rights or your parental rights are withdrawn only because of your sexual orientation, age, religious conscience, political affiliation, national or ethnic origin or on other similar grounds, it may violate the prohibition against discrimination.
Read more about how to complain in order to protect your rights.