Best interest of the child or parental discretion?

The main, key principle of the RA Family Code is ensuring the best interest of the child. any action taken against the child must be in the child’s best interests.

The idea of ​​the best interest of the child entered the Armenian legal system in the recent past and is conditioned by the aspirations to bring the RA legislation into line with international requirements.

Let’s strengthen the statement with one example, when the parents of a child under 16 years old are divorced, and the child lives with one of the parents.

We know that according to the RA Citizen’s Passport, a citizen who has reached the age of 16 submits an application for a passport in person. We also know that persons under the age of 18 are still considered children on the basis of the application of one of the parents or another legal representative. That is, regardless of whether a child under the age of 16 lives with both parents or with one of the parents, he receives a passport on the application of one parent according to

This legislation created a fertile ground for the establishment of another legislation that makes the best interest of the child chaotic;

A citizen of the Republic of Armenia is issued a passport for leaving the Republic of Armenia and returning to the Republic of Armenia.

According to the explanation of the Border Guard troops of the National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia, there is no specific procedure for the entry and exit of citizens of the Republic of Armenia under the age of 16, therefore, the citizens of the Republic of Armenia under the age of 16 can cross the border in the presence of a valid passport.

There are countries where it is mandatory to obtain an entry visa. This means that, although a parent can issue a passport to a child under the age of 16, he is deprived, without the written, notarized consent of the other parent, to the child. from the right to withdraw from countries.

However, unfortunately, there are countries with which the Republic of Armenia has a visa-free entry regime, which means that a parent living with a child under the age of 16 can arbitrarily take the child out of the country with only a passport, without informing the child. to the other parent.And this is only the technical, procedural side of the problem.

The issue is different when viewed in the light of the best interests of the child.

According to the RA Family Code, every child has the right to know his parents, to receive their care, to communicate with them and to receive education from them In case of living in different states), the child has the right to communicate with each of them. The parent with whom the child lives should not prevent the child from communicating with the other parent, if such contact does not cause harm to the child’s physical and mental well-being. mental health, his moral development.

According to the European Court, normal family relations do not cease when one of the parents separates or they divorce, even if as a result the child ceases to live with one of the parents interests which, depending on their nature and seriousness, may override the interests of the parents.

The above-mentioned regulations strongly reject the case laws in the Republic of Armenia and the vicious, uncontrollable practices unleashed by those laws. The parent with whom the child lives should not and cannot arbitrarily take the child out of the country just because he wants to. the current procedure is unconstitutional in terms of the state disregarding the best interest of the child in such a case.

The state has not taken care of the implementation of child-centered legal protection mechanisms, which benefits only the parent living together with the child, while the child, the non-living parent and, of course, the best interest of the child suffer.

Funded by the Federal Office of Foreign Affairs.

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