Evaluation of Legislation, Policy and Practice on Child Participation in the European Union (EU)
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Evaluation of legislation, policy and practice on child participation in the European Union (EU) Country Report: Romania Written by Ecorys UK Ltd March 2015 EUROPEAN COMMISSION Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers (JUST) Unit - Unit C1 Fundamental rights and rights of the child European Commission B-1049 Brussels EUROPEAN COMMISSION Evaluation of legislation, policy and practice on child participation in the European Union (EU) Country Report: Romania Directorate-General for Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers (JUST) Evaluation of legislation, policy and practice on child participation in the European Union (EU) 2015 EUR 240 EN Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers to your questions about the European Union. Freephone number (*): 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (*) The information given is free, as are most calls (though some operators, phone boxes or hotels may charge you). LEGAL NOTICE This country report has been prepared under the responsibility of Ecorys by Maria Roth, Professor and chair of the Social Work Department at Babes-Bolyai University, under Contract No JUST/2011/Chil/FW/0159/A4 JUST/2012/ with the European Commission, Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers (JUST). This document reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://www.europa.eu). Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2015 ISBN: 978-92-79-44991-8 doi: 10.2838/836374 © European Union, 2015 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. The reproduction of any third-party textual or artistic material included is prohibited. Evaluation of legislation, policy and practice on child participation in the European Union (EU) Country Mapping Fiche for Romania Country Fiche: ROMANIA Name of country expert: Maria Roth Position / title: Professor and chair of the Social Work Department Organisation: Babes-Bolyai University Part 1: Overall arrangements within the country A. National Legislative/ Policy Framework (including definitions and budget/financing) Romania was facing severe problems in the early 1990s in the field of children’s rights protection with a. Background context to child international adoptions and street children being key issues. Beside the ratification of the UN Convention on participation agenda within the the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in 1990, there were no real changes to the legislative system until 1997, country: when the Romanian Government adopted some provisions concerning the legal status of adoption and the protection of children in difficulty. According to both Governmental and Non Governmental Stakeholders1, Romania needed a modern vision of the child, as a holder of rights and as a beneficiary of the newly introduced social services. In the 2000s, the EU accession was a huge driver for changes. Starting from 2005, a National Strategy to ensure the implementation of children’s rights was implemented: “In 1997 the decentralization process of the protection system has started, but a real turning point in the Romanian child protection reform was the enacting of the reformed Child Protection procedure package, developed by an international panel of experts, which came into force in January 2005 ” (NGS). “In the middle of the 2000’s the principles of European policies were adopted in Romanian national law system by taking over the aquis comunitare” (GS). The priority of the Government in this field was the coordination of the implementation process of the new legislation, such as quality standards for the newly developed institutions, as well as the harmonisation of legislation concerning children and family. [Civil Society Monitoring on the Implementation of the National Roma Integration Strategy and Decade Action Plan in 2012 in Romania] has special provisions to incorporate the provisions of the UNCRC, including Article 12, in national legislation. 1 The anonymity of all interview respondents has been preserved in the version of the fiche for publication. The views of representatives from Ministries and other official Government bodies are attributed using the term ‘Government Stakeholder’ (GS), and the views of representatives from all other organisations are attributed using the term ‘Non- Government Stakeholder (NGS)’. A full list of organisations represented in the study fieldwork is provided in Part 4 of the fiche. March 2015 1 Evaluation of legislation, policy and practice on child participation in the European Union (EU) Country Mapping Fiche for Romania A. National Legislative/ Policy Framework (including definitions and budget/financing) “Regarding the cultural attitudes, it was obvious that the legal provisions alone will not change mentalities, the professional’s behaviors and won’t enhance community involvement. For this reason, an extensive program was developed, with the financial support of the EU, whose aim was to address the public in general, the professionals in special and also a large group of children, in order to raise awareness regarding children’s rights, entitled “Educational Campaign for the Rights of the Child”. (NGS) In 2007, [Midterm evaluation of the decade of Roma inclusion] the Family Code was modified and completed. According to (NGS) “the development of new codes was necessary because of the international and European requirements, but also because of economical and social realities of Romania.” Romania has now 4 new Codes: the Civil Code (Law no. 287/2009 and the modifications of the law 71/2011), the Criminal Code (Law no. 286/2009), the Civil Procedure Code (Law no. 134/2010) and the Criminal Procedures Code (Law no. 135/2010), which contain special provisions regarding children. “The provisions of Art. 12 of the Convention are to be found within the national law on children’s rights, b. How is Article 12 UNCRC namely Law no. 272/2004 [Civil Society Monitoring on the Implementation of the National Roma Integration reflected in legislation? Strategy and Decade Action Plan in 2012 in Romania] regarding the protection and promotion of children rights (GS)“. Articles 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29 of the law have special provisions to implement the principle of children’s participation. To freely express their opinion and to be informed on any matter which concerns them (Art. 23); To be heard in all procedures which involve them (Art. 24); The right to be heard grants to the child the possibility to request and receive any pertinent information, to be consulted, to express his or her opinion, and to be informed about the consequences which his or her opinion may generate, if observed, as well as about the consequences of any decision involving him or her. (art. 24.3). To freedom of thought, of conscience and religion (Art. 25); To freedom of association, in formal and informal structures, as well as the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, within the limits stipulated by the law (Art. 26); To file, on their own, complaints regarding the violation of their fundamental rights (Art. 29, para. 1); March 2015 2 Evaluation of legislation, policy and practice on child participation in the European Union (EU) Country Mapping Fiche for Romania A. National Legislative/ Policy Framework (including definitions and budget/financing) Regarding the implementation of children’s right to participate “There is no monitoring system, no national or regional data regarding children’s participation” (NGS). [The rights of the children and youth with physical handicaps – from will to reality] on adoption institutionalises the right of the child to be informed and to be taken in consideration, considering his age and level of maturity (Art. 1, paragraph d). The adoption law also foresees the mandatory consultation with the child above 10 years of age at all phases of the adoption (Art. 78), in particular obtaining the consent of the child above the age of 10 mandatory for the adoption (Art. 14). The child has the right to get information regarding all proceedings (Art. 14). In the case of children below 10 years of age, their opinion should be heard and taken in consideration in accordance with their age and level of maturity. [Participation of visual impaired children from Cluj special Highschool , to international the torball competitions with the only torball team from Romanian schools]. regarding the organising and functioning of the Child Protection Commission stipulates the right of the child to address to the Commission and to be informed regarding the proceedings and to be heard in matters that concern him/her (Art. 13). The quality standards of the child protection services contain provisions regarding the consultation of the child and his family, the right of the child to be informed and to have access to his own file. “Regarding health care, the Patient’s Law no. 46/2003 was adopted in 2003, but only a single article (Art. 16) refers to the children’s consent: If the legal representative’s consent is required, the patient must be involved in decision-making as far as his capabilities and understanding it permits” (GS). “[Regulation of the Organization and Functioning of the National Council of pupils] does not set age limits for the application of the principle of informing patients and asking them for consent, but stipulates that in case the legal representative is involved, the patient has also to be involved in the consent process, as much as he can be, depending on his/her capacity to understand the situation and its implications” (GS). March 2015 3 Evaluation of legislation, policy and practice on child participation in the European Union (EU) Country Mapping Fiche for Romania A. National Legislative/ Policy Framework (including definitions and budget/financing) There is no entity overseeing the implementation of Article 12 of the Convention. c. How are responsibilities for The Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Protection has most of the responsibilities with oversight on the implementation? Is there one implementation of UNCRC, including Article 12.