The Committee of Ministers ended its supervision of the execution of the ECHR judgment in Fourkiotis concerning the inadequacy of measures taken by the competent authorities to secure the enforcement of a court decision ordering interim measures on the applicant father’s rights of access to his children living with their mother.
In response, Law No. 4800/2021 was adopted to pursue the modernisation of the legislative framework. The purpose of this new law is to serve the best interests of the child by encouraging the active presence of both parents in the child’s upbringing. The principle of joint parental care is established. Moreover, when joint parental care is not possible, mediation is promoted and any practices that serve to obstruct communication between the child and the parent with whom the child does not reside (such as violating the terms of a court order concerning a child’s communication) are qualified as misuse of parental responsibility, which the competent court is obliged to take into account when adjudicating on parental care issues.
