Legal aspects of parent – child contact problems in Poland

Abstract

The article presents an analysis of provisions concerning contacts with children, which are relatively new regulation in Polish family law. The first part of article describes the most important legal aspects. The theoretical considerations are an attempt to determine the legal nature of contacts, showing that they are primarily of a family law nature, despite the right and obligation introduced by the legislator. This construction, despite the fact that it may seem as approaching the contractual nature, is essentially a family-legal relationship; the sanction and the claim related to the right of contact are also of this nature. Moreover, the parent-child contact has a natural legal character, resulting from the parental and personal relationship. In addition, the most important postulates indicate the introduction to the Polish family law the missing suspension of contacts, which have a neutral character. The third part of the article presents the most important problems related to exercising the right to contact and proposals to overcome them on the basis of existing provisions, which makes the considerations also practical for maintaining contact with the child.