Child protection

If there is a serious threat to a child’s mental or physical development, the court may decide to impose what are known as ‘child protection measures’ enabling the State to intervene. For instance, the court may issue a family supervision order, appointing a ‘family supervisor’ to keep an eye on the child at home. If this is not possible and there is no other way of dispelling the threat to the child’s development, the court may decide to authorise a ‘custodial placement’, in which case the child is moved to a foster family or a home.

If so requested by one of the child’s direct relatives or the public prosecutor, the court may also release or dismiss either one or both of the parents from their parental authority. The latter two measures are generally followed by the transfer of parental authority to a guardianship agency.

If you are a parent and are the subject of a child protection measure, this will have a huge impact not just on you, but on your children and the rest of your family. A child protection measure is not necessarily the right way forward, though. As a parent, you are entitled to object to a child protection measure. If it is enforced in practice, you may find yourself at loggerheads with the family supervisor or the other parent.