The Committee of Experts on the Rights and the Best interests of the Child in Parental Separation and in Care Proceedings (CJ/ENF-ISE) held on 4 October a hearing which provided a platform for member states to engage with representatives international non-governmental organisations, professional associations and international networks of lawyers, family mediators and other professionals, as well as academia.
The Hearing focused on the following topics:
- The best interests of the child and his or her rights in cases of the child’s relocation with one parent, including abroad.
- The best interests of the child and his or her rights in cases of family mediation and amicable separation.
- Implementation and enforcement of the decision in high-conflict parental separation.
- Parental separation situations and childcare proceedings intersecting in the context of high conflict parental situations
- Ways and means to support the exercise of parental responsibilities in relation to children in care.
- Ways to facilitate contact between parents and children (including siblings).
Participating organisations and networks included the International francophone association of interveners in separated families (AIFI), the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE); the Child-friendly justice European Network (CFJ-EN), Missing Children Europe, Eurochild, the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW), the International Mediation Centre for Family Conflict and Child Abduction (MiKK e.V.), the International Academy of Family Lawyers(IAFL) and the University College Cork.
The CJ/ENF-ISE will continue to hold consultations with relevant professional networks and organisations during the elaboration of the recommendation.
This hearing took place in Dublin as part of an event hosted by the Irish Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.
