1995/03/28 - Pl. ÚS 20/94: Family Law  (166 KB, PDF)

 

The  Plenum of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic in  the matter of the petition proposing the annulment of § 46 of the Act on the Family, No. 94/1963 Coll., as amended,1) § 19 para. 1, letter  a, subpara. 1 of Czech National Council Act No.  114/1988 Coll.,  on the Competence of Bodies of the Czech Socialist Republic in Social Security Matters, as amended,2) and § 15 of Regulation of the  Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of the Czech  Republic, No. 182/1991 Coll., which Implements the Act on Social Security and the Czech National Council Act on the Competence of Bodies of the Czech  Socialist Republic in Social Security Matters,3) on 28 March 1995 decided, thusly:   As of 1 October 1995, the following shall be annulled:

1.  § 46 of the Act on the Family, No. 94/1963 Coll., as amended;1)
2.  §  19 para. 1, letter a, subpara. 1 of Czech National Council Act  No.  114/1988 Coll., on the Competence of Bodies of the  Czech Socialist Republic in Social Security Matters, as amended;2)
3.   §  15  of  Regulation of the Ministry of  Labor  and  Social Affairs of the Czech Republic, No. 182/1991 Coll., which Implements the Act on Social Security and the Czech National Council Act  on
the  Competence  of  Bodies of the Czech  Socialist  Republic  in Social Security Matters; as amended.3)

 

REASONING
 

On  16  February 1994, the complainant, Z. N., delivered  to the  Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic a  constitutional complaint against the 29 November 1993 resolution of the Regional Court  in  Brno, which turned down his appeal from the  2  August 1993 judgment of the Municipal Court in Brno, in conjunction with which  he  submitted a petition proposing the  annulment  of  the above-cited  legal  enactments.   For  this  reason,  the   Panel suspended  the  proceeding on the constitutional  complaint  and, pursuant  to  §  78  para.  1 of Act No.  182/1993  Coll.,  on  the Constitutional  Court, submitted to the Plenum for  its  decision  the  petition proposing that the provisions of both statutes  and of the implementing regulation be annulled.

In  presenting his reasons for the petition, the complainant stated  that, on the basis of a decision on provisional  measures which  the  Municipal  Office of the City  of  Brno  -  Cernovice District  issued  in 1991, a decision was taken placing  his  son under institutional care.  The complainant appealed against these provisional  measures  to  the  competent  appellate  body,   the Municipal Office of the City of Brno, Division of Social Affairs, but  that  office  did  not grant his appeal.   Neither  did  the criminal   court  (which  in  1993,  in  connection  with   these decisions,  passed  judgment  on  the  complainant's  failure  to perform his duty as a father to pay fees for care provided during the  period  when  his son was in institutional care)  take  into consideration  the complainant's objection that  these  decisions constituted  a violation of his rights as well as  those  of  his child, and this in spite of the fact that Art. 32 para. 4 of  the Charter  of  Fundamental Rights and Basic Freedoms4) provides  that parental  rights may be restricted and children  may  be  removed from  the  custody of their parents without the parents'  consent only  by decision of a court on the basis of a statute.   Art.  9 para.  1  of  the Convention on the Rights of the Child  contains analogous  provisions.  In the complainant's view,  at  the  time these decisions were made, the cited provisions of the Convention should  have  been given, in accordance with § 2 of the  then  in force Constitutional Act No. 23/1991 Coll.,5) priority over statutes; therefore, they should have taken priority over § 46 of  the  Act on  the Family,1) No. 94/1963 Coll., § 19 para. 1, letter a, subpara. 1  of  Czech National Council Act No. 114/1988 Coll.,2) and §  15  of Regulation  of  the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs  of  the Czech  Republic,  No.  182/1991 Coll.3)   Nations  which  are  States Parties to the above-cited Convention are, therefore, required to ensure  that children may not be taken from the custody of  their parents  without  the  parents'  consent,  unless  the  competent authority  decides,  on  the  basis  of  a  court  decision,   in accordance   with  a  valid  statute,  and  in   an   appropriate proceeding, that such removal is in the interests of the child.

The  Constitutional Court has ascertained from the reasoning of  the  judgment of the Municipal Court in Brno in the  criminal matter, file no. 4 T 113/93, that even though the Municipal Court
in Brno did not take such measures with explicit reference to the provisions of §  46  of  Act No. 94/1963 Coll.,1) in its legal deliberations,  with regard to the judgment on the complainant's guilt, in particular, it  conducted  the case in accordance with the contents  of  that act.  The Constitutional Court drew from these circumstances  the conclusion that the petition proposing the annulment of a portion of  Act No. 94/1963 Coll., as amended, as well as portions of Czech National  Council  Act No. 114/1988 Coll., and  Regulation  of  the Ministry  of  Labor and Social Affairs No. 182/1991 Coll.,  bear  a close  connection  to  the circumstances  that  emerge  from  the complainant's  constitutional complaint.  Therefore,  the  formal requirements for the consideration of a petition on the annulment of a statute (§ 74 of Act No. 182/1993 Coll.6)) have been fulfilled.

First of all, the Constitutional Court must, on the basis of the submitted petition, draw its attention to comparing the terms of  the provisions which are proposed to be annulled, § 46 of Act No.  94/1963  Coll.1) (since its provisions create the foundation  on which  is  built  §  19 of Act No. 114/1988  Coll.,2)  and  §  15  of Regulation No. 182/1991 Coll.3)), with the terms of Article 32  para. 4  of  the  Charter  of  Fundamental Rights and  Basic  Freedoms.4) According  to  the  express terms of the Charter  of  Fundamental Rights   and   Basic  Freedoms,  which  forms  a  part   of   the constitutional order of the Czech Republic, in cases  where  they do  not give their consent, parents' rights may be restricted and
children may be removed from their custody only by decision of  a court (on the basis of law).  The text of Article 32 para.  4  of the  Charter4) leaves no doubt on this score:  "Parental rights may be  limited and minor children may be removed from their parents' custody against the latters' will only by the decision of a court on the basis of the law."  The Convention on the Rights of Child, which  this  state  is  obliged  to  implement  internally,  also provides similar protection to children.

If, therefore, the Charter provides that minor children  may be removed from the custody of their parents without the latters' consent only by the decision of a court on the basis of the  law, and  the  provisions of the Act on the Family(§  46  of  Act  No. 94/1963 Coll.1)), just as the provisions the Act on the Competence of Bodies of the Czech Socialist Republic in Social Security Matters (§  19  of  Act  No.  114/1988 Coll.2)), place upon district  national committees (now district offices) the duty, in urgent  cases,  to take  provisionally even such measures as otherwise only a  court would  have  the  authority to take (although  they  are  obliged without delay to notify a court, which must decide on the  matter
subsequently),  then the Constitutional Court must  come  to  the conclusion   that   these  provisions  are   in   conflict   with constitutional acts, as meant by § 70 of Act No. 182/1993 Coll., on the Constitutional Court, and must annul them.

The Constitutional Court concurs with the views submitted by the  Assembly of Deputies' to the effect that, if a child is  not receiving upbringing in his own family situation, then he  has  a legal  claim  upon the state that it ensure him upbringing  in  a situation substituting for that of his own family, thus, even  an institutional  upbringing, if it is not possible to  provide  him with substitute family care (§ 46, Act on the Family1)), so that it is  not  only  the right of these bodies to take those  necessary measures  which  are required by the interest in  protecting  the rights of the minor, but it is also their legal duty.

 However,  the  Constitutional Court cannot  agree  with  the assertion  that  the breadth of the state bodies'  authority  and their  powers (for example, in § 46 of Act No. 94/1963 Coll.1) )  are in  conformity  with  the relevant norms  of  international  law, because,  as it has already stated, it has come to the conclusion that   these   specific  provisions  are  in  conflict   with   a constitutional  act  of  the Czech Republic.   For  this  reason, neither  can  it  concur with the further assertion  that  it  is enough  that  a  court makes a decision concerning the  immediate placement  of children into care substituting for the  upbringing of  the  family only subsequent to the decision by the  competent administrative  body to make such a placement  as  a  provisional measure.

 The  above-stated reasons, which point to the  annulment  of the  contested provisions of both cited statutes, applies to  the same   degree  to  the  annulment  of  the  provisions   of   the implementing  regulations, that is §  15  of  Regulation  of  the Ministry  of Labor and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic,  No. 182/1991 Coll.3)

 As  the  Constitutional Court is well aware  that  there  are urgent  cases which require that, in the interests of the  child, the  necessary steps be taken without delay, it is  delaying  the entry into effect of this judgment until 1 October 1995, in order to  allow  for the organizational, or legislative, measures  that are  necessary to protect the interests of children, to be  taken in  harmony  with  the Charter of Fundamental  Rights  and  Basic Freedoms, which forms a part of the constitutional order  of  the Czech  Republic, as well as with the International Convention  on the Rights of the Child, by which the Czech Republic is bound.