Law, Identity and Values

The Primacy of Parents in Child-Rearing for a Child in Foster Care

2023-04-04T10:23:38+02:00

This study investigates the legal status of parents of children placed in foster care, in view of the constitutional principle of the primacy of parents in child-rearing. It analyzes the legal status of parents in all possible cases when a child has been placed in foster care or in a childcare facility, especially the case based on a ruling that restricts parental authority, which is the most common circumstance and the most ambiguous in terms of the research problem explored here. Moreover, this study examines the thesis that both parents and foster carers jointly affect the child, making it difficult to defend the position that parents should enjoy the primacy. Nevertheless, the purpose of the provisions of the Family and Guardianship Code and the Act on Family Support and Foster Care System is clearly to restore the primacy of parents.

The Protection of Privacy of the IP Address in Slovenia

2023-04-04T19:45:50+02:00

The protection of communication privacy covers not only the content of the conversation, but also other information related to the communication (metadata). The most prominent type of metadata in online communication is IP address, which defines the location of a computer or other connected device in the network. As a purely technical information, an IP address does not refer directly to any individual and is not in itself personal information. Yet, it can also be used to identify individuals online, track their location and online activity. An IP address is never strictly private, since any internet user’s IP address is visible to other participants in regular online interactions, which differentiates it from typical private information. The paper examines the conditions, developed in case law of the European Court of Human Rights and Court of Justice of the European Union as well as the Slovenian courts, under which an IP address can be considered personal data and when it is protected as a part of one’s communication privacy. The paper then focuses on the issue of whether an individual should be considered to have waived the privacy protection of their IP address if they have taken no measures to hide it. The relevance of the distinction between static and dynamic IP addresses from the perspective of privacy protection is also discussed.

Parental Care Following Divorce in the Republic of Croatia

2023-04-18T10:57:42+02:00

The author explains family law rules concerning the exercise of parental responsibility (parental care) after divorce in Croatia. The new family legislation emphasizes the importance of encouraging parents to reach agreements and reduce manipulations of their children after divorce. Parents may divorce in simplified, non-contentious proceedings, having previously reached an agreement on their divorce and on how they will exercise parental care. If there is no agreement on the exercise of parental care, they divorce in civil contentious proceedings. In that case, a parent that does not live with the child is not entitled to exercise joint parental responsibility. Novum is that a child is considered a party in all court proceedings where the court decides on his or her rights. The child is represented by a special guardian appointed by a social welfare office that is an employee of the Center for Special Guardianship. The representation system provokes new challenges due to its implementation weakness.

The author carefully analyses legal situations where parents may represent their child jointly, one of them solely, or combined: jointly regarding the essential personal rights of the child, or one of them solely with regard to any other matters. Serious questions are raised because of significant limitations on the right to parental care of the parent who does not live with the child (as a part of the content of their human right to respect for family life). According to the author’s opinion, these restrictions are not justified, especially concerning the goal to protect the child’s best interests in post-divorce families.

Parental Autonomy v. Child Autonomy v. State Authority Powers

2023-04-18T11:33:47+02:00

In this paper the author analyzes relations between parental autonomy, child autonomy and State authority powers within the purview of the content of the parental rights, family status of the child (maternity and paternity) as well as in exercise of the parental rights. These issues are presented according to Serbian law and court practice, from a comparative and international perspective.

The Rights of the Child at Risk

2023-04-18T11:56:56+02:00

Mainly thanks to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, its philosophy, ideas and principles, the Czech legal order was changed in early ´90 and later on, in connection with the Civil Code in 2012. The child is no longer conceived as a passive object of his or her parents´ activities, their parental responsibility, but as an active subject with legally guaranteed rights. However, not only ‘law in books’ is relevant. There is still ‘bad practice’ connected with anonymous or hidden child delivery, abandoning new born children in ‘baby-boxes’ and older children in institutional care, although the state has attempted remedies. Besides, the number of divorces has increased in the Czech Republic over the last couple of decades, while in the last few years there are more marriages, and the divorce rate is no longer so alarming. However, the statistics reveal that minor children have not been an ‘obstacle’ to a ‘radical termination’ of the matrimonial bond.

The article aims at finding an answer to the question whether abandoning an unregistered child or applying for hidden identity by his or her mother makes the ‘way’ of the child to a substitute family by adoption easier. Further, an attention is paid to surrogate motherhood. These topics are linked to the right of the child to know his or her origin. As the harmony between biological, social and legal parentage and the model of ‘continuing’ parenting are values, the well-balanced rights and duties of both the child parents and the best interest of the child are stressed. The final words are focused on alternative measures and interdisciplinary collaboration, besides public law instruments.

The Implementation of the Child’s Right To Be Heard

2023-04-18T12:11:14+02:00

The Convention on the Rights of the Child represents a crucial international instrument related to children’s rights. Article 12 enshrined children’s right to express their views or be heard. Right to be heard ensures that children are listened to and taken seriously. They are entitled to give their opinions on all matters affecting them, especially in judicial proceedings. Slovenia adopted a new Family Code (2017) and the Non-Contentious Civil Procedure Act (2019). Both acts brought about essential improvements in the children’s right to be heard. The article offers a general analysis of the conventional understanding of this right, followed by a presentation of its inclusion in the two new legal acts and Slovene contemporary case law.

Content of the Right to Parental Responsibility and the Activities of Non‑Governmental Organizations in Poland

2023-04-18T13:49:14+02:00

This study analyses the relationship between the activities of non-governmental organizations and the content of parental authority in Poland. Thus, this study presents an outline of the sources of universally applicable law in the field of non-governmental organizations’ activities with respect to public tasks, with due regard to the norms of organizational units of religious associations that may conduct activities significant from the perspective of parental authority. Simultaneously, it presents the basic sources of law relating to parental responsibility in the Polish legal system, in the relevant scope. Next, it presents the objectives of the activities of non-governmental organizations in the form of child welfare and family assistance, which may relate directly or indirectly to parental authority. Thereafter, the study, presents references to the possible interference of the activities of a non-governmental organization in the sphere of parental authority. Finally, it presents general and de lege ferenda conclusions.

The Pivotal Role of DPAs in Digital Privacy Protection

2023-04-18T14:02:43+02:00

With the widespread use of the Internet in both personal and professional life, data protection has become a critical aspect of privacy protection. The mechanisms developed in administrative law are the main tools for personal data protection in modern societies. Within the European integration process, the Republic of Serbia has established an independent data protection authority (DPA) that supervises and ensures the implementation of data protection rules, conducts inspections, acts on complaints of persons to whom the data relates, and determines whether there has been a violation of the law. This paper commences with an analysis of international legal instruments imposing a duty to establish an independent data protection supervisory authority. It goes on to further analyze the main characteristics of the national data protection system, the personal, territorial, and material scope of its application, as well as specific rights of data subjects. The efficient protection of digital privacy primarily depends on the investigative powers of the independent supervisory authority, which are also analyzed in detail. Given the global character of the Internet, the protection of personal data also depends on efficient cooperation among DPAs, the extraterritorial application of data protection rules, and adequate regulation of international transfer of personal data.

The True Face of the Right to Privacy on the Example of the Secret of Confession in Criminal Proceedings

2023-04-22T17:58:48+02:00

The scientific paper concerns the image of the right to privacy on the example of the secret of confession in criminal proceedings. First of all, the introductory comments, including the scope of the study, will be provided. After that, considerations regarding the concept of privacy as a term of fundamental importance will be presented. This will also include an indication of privacy features. Then, the right to privacy will be presented with the definition of elements forming its concepts. After the above, criminal proceedings will be outlined as an area of applying the right to privacy in criminal law practice. This will give the opportunity to present a legal institution in procedural criminal law, which is an example of the functioning of privacy. For this reason, the study will analyze the secret of confession and will deal with the relationship between the penitent and the confessor. The current reasoning in study will lead to the analysis of the standards of Polish criminal proceedings with the legal institution of the secret of confession. In this context, it will be also important for paper to deal with the sources of the secret of confession and analysis of the secret of confession in other legal acts of the Polish legal system, apart from the Code of Criminal Procedure. The paper ends with a concise summary where it will be noticed that the secret of confession is the highest-ranking example of respecting the right to privacy in criminal proceedings. The analysis contained in paper also applies to natural law.