Divorce Versus the Best Interest of the Child as a Subject of Examination Conducted in Ozss: A Legal and Psychological Perspective

Abstract

Abstract The article is a review of the issues concerning the concept of “the best interest of the child” as a negative condition for granting a divorce in the light of a diagnosis made in the Opiniodawcze Zespoły Specjalistów Sądowych (OZSS) on family courts’ request. It presents legal and psychological views on the best interest of the child in the context of a divorce treated as a crisis in the family. Comments are also presented on the scope of examination conducted by the OZSS experts on the impact of a divorce on the best interest of the child and selected problems related to their specificity. Based on the selected literature on the subject matter, case law and the work practice of the OZSS experts in the field of psychology, subjective views on the methodology of examining the impact of a divorce on the best interests of children are also presented. The main thesis of the article is the opinion that commissioning the OZSS experts by family courts to examine negative conditions for granting a divorce is controversial.