[Passed] Contact Rights between Parent and Child

[Simone]

The main discussion is on the NS forum itself and on Discord, but I have cross posted this.

IC: This resolution serves two purposes:
1. WA # 39 is insufficient to prevent cases where one parent is denied all visitation rights on the simple grounds that a child is "accustomed to live with" another parent.
2. It also closes a loophole whereby parent(s) of child(ren) who are not legally married (and thus not protected by either WA #457 or WA #200 on foreign marriages) would not necessarily be recognised as parents for the purpose of other member states, if the other member states do not recognise civil unions or co-habiting, for example.

(OOC: in real life, (1) is a direct aim at the practice of Japanese courts (plus a couple of other jurisdictions) to rule on the grounds that a parent is not entitled to visitation rights because the child is "habitually with another parent". (2) is explicitly designed to make it easier for couples that were co-habiting or in civil unions or in some kind of "de facto" live-in relationship (such as Australia) to gain recognition in other member states where such unions are not recognised by law.)

This is now in second draft with minor revisions.

The World Assembly,

Recognizing that WA#39 (The Right to a Lawful Divorce) requires that for children of a divorce, member states shall resolve issues of custody and support with an overriding priority on the best interests of each and every child;

Noting that different laws and customs between member states may allow said child to become the purview of a sole parent or legal guardian due to varying definitions on legal parenthood and marriage laws, and the interests of a child and abhors the potential resulting lack of contact rights by other parents as a a result;

Defining, for the purposes of this Resolution:

"Child" as a person that has not yet attained the age of majority in the WA member state ("Resident State") in which the person ordinarily resides;

"Court" as the relevant court, tribunal, or other competent authority of the Resident State on matters pertaining to the welfare and custody of a child, including the child's best interests (and to interpret what constitutes "best interests");

"Contact" as inclusive of each of the following separate rights: (i) right of a child to stay for a limited period of time with or meeting a Parent with whom that child is not usually living, (ii) any form of communication (including telecommunication) between the child and such Parent; (iii) the provision of information to such a Parent about the child;

"Custody" as inclusive of each of the following separate rights (i) Legal Custody, the right to make decisions about the child, and (ii) Physical Custody, the right and duty to house, provide and care for the child;

"Parent(s)" as (i) persons holding legal parenthood in the Resident State, as defined by the laws of the Resident State and (ii) in custody disputes, any plaintiff or defendant who asserts the right to legal parenthood based on the laws of the WA member state to which the said plaintiff or defendant is a citizen of;

Hereby requires that:

1. A Parent shall have the right to obtain and maintain regular Contact with a child, unless such Contact(s) are deemed by the Court to be manifestly contrary to the best interests of the child;
2. The said right to Contact shall not be denied to a particular Parent solely on the grounds of the Child being accustomed to be in the presence of only one or a specific number of the child's Parent(s);
3. Each of the three Contact rights defined herein shall be considered separately by a Court on its own merits and the Court may impose, in any and all instances where such Contact rights are exercised, such safeguards as it deems to be in the best interests of a child;
4. A Parent that does not have the right to Physical Custody of the child shall, unless deemed by a Court to be contrary to the interests of the Child, be consulted on matters of Legal Custody that are deemed by the Court to be important to the Child's best interests;
5. A Child deemed by a Court as sufficiently competent shall have the right, if deemed by the said Court to be in the Child's best interests, to (i) to receive all relevant information and (ii) to be consulted with regards to such Contact, and that due weight shall be given to those views and to the ascertainable wishes and feelings of the Child;
6. In disputes on Custody, a Court must recognize the legal parenthood of a citizen of another WA member state, and to define that person as a Parent, as long as the person can conclusively demonstrate legal parenthood in the WA member state to which that person is a citizen, even if that person would not otherwise be entitled to legal parenthood in the Resident State, and Contact rights may not be curtailed on the grounds of differences in the definition of legal parenthood between WA member states.

Further, hereby encourages a WA member state to also extend the rights to said Contact(s) to a Parent that is a citizen of a non-WA member state.

 

[Simone]

Locked as resolution passed as GA#616.