A MOVE TOWARDS INCREASING THE PROTECTION OF MINORS

#59A move towards increasing the protection of minors

Deputies of the National Council of the Slovak Republic moved to the next reading an important change in the legislation, which should contribute to improving the protection of the best interests of minor children in situations where their parents get divorce or separate. Changes within the legislative process LP/2022/127 proposed by the Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic amend Act no. 161/2015 Coll. Civil Non-Dispute Procedure, as amended, Act No. 36/2005 Coll. on the family and on changes and additions to certain laws, as amended, and Act No. 549/2003 Coll. on court officials, as amended. The need for amendment stems mainly from existing problems in family law proceedings.

Among other things, the amendment proposes a new way of assigning matters in the guardianship agenda with the aim of having one guardianship judge for all proceedings that concern the same child or her or his siblings. This judge should be able to better perceive the conditions in the family, know their members and therefore should assess the whole matter more effectively.

It is also proposed to anchor the principle according to which, in proceedings for the enforcement of a decision in matters involving minors, the court will obligatorily order an oral hearing in order to discuss the matter. Thus, the court should have an educational effect on the participants and, by consensus, lead them to voluntarily fulfil the obligations imposed by the decision. The result of such a hearing may be the imposition of mandatory mediation on the parents or the obligation to undergo psychological counselling.

The amendment further proposes to establish a six-month period in which the court has to decide on the order of execution of the decision or on the rejection of the proposal to order the execution of the decision. This period begins to run from the start of the proceedings.

The goal is also to prevent inadequate prolongation of proceedings, especially due to ongoing proceedings to change the execution title. Speed is very important in this type of forced execution of a decision. This prevents the separation of a minor child from the other parent for several months.

A big proposed change is also joint personal care of the child. Joint personal care of both parents is a form of child care, where the way parents make decisions about child care remains the same as in the period before the divorce. This change would also apply to parents who are not married according to the legal order of the Slovak Republic.