Exercising And Protection of the Child's Right to Personal Relationships With Parents

Abstract

The child's right to contact with parents is recognized as one of the basic rights in international and national legislation. According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, children have the right to maintain regular contact with their parents, except when this is not in their best interest. The issue of contact becomes particularly important in situations of divorce, guardianship, adoption, but also in situations where the parent is far away, such as work migration. New technologies, such as the Internet, mobile phones, video calls (Zoom, Skype, WhatsApp), social media and messaging applications, play a key role in preserving and promoting this right. They enable children and parents, regardless of geographical distances, to stay connected and maintain quality communication. The challenges of such communications concern the protection of the child's privacy and safety. Despite everything, sometimes the child, willingly or under the influence of others, and sometimes the parent who is obliged to do so, expressly refuses the possibility of any communication, which seriously endangers the best interest of the child. After a brief review and critical assessment of the existing mechanisms for exercising and protection of the right to personal relationships in Serbian, comparative and international law and practice, this paper will address newer theoretical approaches to the aforementioned legal institute and its legal protection, which could lead to further improving the normative framework in this delicate matter.