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International Children’s Rights Law: Child and the Family
The main focus of the chapter is, as follows from the title, the children’s rights in a family context. It begins with an attempt to explain why it is difficult to give a definition to the words ‘family’ and ‘parent’. It further provides an analysis of the status of a chid in the family, where the author, amongst other issues, discusses the correlation between the child’s rights and parental rights, the concept of child's evolving capacities, and tries to answer a question whether children have any obligations towards their parents at all. The chapter also deals with the issues related to parental responsibilities, parental custody and parental equality. The final part of the chapter concerns different aspects of the best interests of the child in a family context and, in particular, the child’s right to maintain family relations, including when a child is separated with the State borders from his or her parent, as well as some aspects of child removal from the family. As a conclusion, it is stated that family - it is where the idea of a child as the rights-holder is the most difficult to be settled and realized. It requires change in mindset, and it is still a challenge in many respects.