The local guardian authority may restrict your parental access rights, in the framework of various proceedings and at different stages, including totally prohibit access to your child. For example, it may happen during the enforcement of a court decision where a child has been separated from your family or when these proceedings were only initiated.
Challenging the local guardian authority decision
If your access rights are restricted by a decision of the local guardian authority, you may challenge this to the Court. The procedure and time-limits for the appeal should be indicated in the decision.
Application
In your application to the court, you should:
- refer to the relevant legal provisions that give you the right to request limited or unrestricted access to your child
- explain that exercising parental access rights (with minimal or no restrictions at all) would be in your child’s best interests. In doing so you should describe all the circumstances that are important in proving your claim
- if you believe that you are being discriminated against, indicate that your parental access rights are being restricted only due to characteristics that you possess, such as your sexual orientation, age, religious beliefs, political affiliation, national or ethnic origin or other similar grounds
important Restrictions on parental access rights based solely on one of these grounds will violate the prohibition against discrimination.
- add all relevant documents that substantiate your request, if there are any
note You may also ask for compensation, if you feel that restrictions on access to your child have caused you any material or moral damages.
You can learn more about how to prepare your challenging application in the Administrative Code.
Read more about your rights in the Administrative Court.
Court’s decision
After examining your claim, the Administrative Court will decide whether the restrictions on your parental access rights should be lifted or reduced. In such case, the court will restore your parental access rights to what they were previously or reduce the applied restrictions. If you have requested compensation, the court may request the local guardian authority to provide it.
Disputing local guardian authority action filed in court
If there is an imminent danger from your side to life, health or inviolability of your child, the local guardian authority will act with an urgent measure of taking the child out from your custody and may request in court to place your child into social care with or without the termination of your parental rights. You can dispute this request in the relevant court. If the court has decided to place your child in social care with or without the termination of your parental rights you may appeal this decision to the Court of Appeals, the latter's decision being subject to appeal on points of law to the Supreme Court. The procedure and time-limits for the appeals against first and second instance courts’ decisions should be indicated by the courts.
In your objections in court proceedings and in subsequent appeals to the higher-level Courts (if the case), you should follow the same guidelines as listed and described above to stress on the protection of your parental access rights.
Requesting a reassessment of restrictions on parental access rights
When the local guardian authority applied restrictions on parental access rights on basis of (enforcing) a court decision to place your child into social care with or without the termination of your parental rights, you may ask the local guardian authority to reassess the situation and annul or reduce restrictions on your parental access rights if, after a certain time, the circumstances on which these restrictions were based have changed.
Application
In your application to the local guardian authority you should:
- indicate the reasons why the restriction on your parental access rights should be changed
- explain that exercising parental access rights (with reduced or no restrictions at all) would be in your child’s best interests. In doing so, you should describe all the circumstances that are important in proving your claim
- add relevant documents that substantiate your request, if there are any
Local guardian authority’s decision
After examining your application, the local guardian authority will decide whether to annul or reduce the restrictions on your parental access rights.