The main tendencies in the development of judicial practice for resolving disputes regarding the determination of the child’s place of residence

Abstract

The article is devoted to the main complicated aspects that take place in national judicial practice devoted to resolving disputes between separated parents regarding the determination of the place of residence of their minor child(ren). The author reiterates the necessity to use more flexible approaches in order to resolve disputes about determining the place of residence of a minor child, to improve the practice of resolving such kind of disputes by national courts, the borders of which are currently limited to the use only one variant - determining the place of residence of a minor child with one parent (with the potential contact of the other parent with the child). The author tried to analyze the norms of international acts and legislation of some democratic states, which should be taken into account by national courts upon resolving disputes about determining the place of residence of a minor child. The main trends in resolving disputes on determination of the place of residence of a minor child, which are refl ected in international conventions, general comments and foreign legal framework as in judicial practice are presented. It is recommended to use in judicial practice such additional methods (variants) of resolving disputes between parents about determining the place of residence of their minor child(ren), as joint physical custody with alternate residence of the child in the accommodation of each parent according to the appropriate schedule, or determination child`s habitual residence in accommodation in which the child lived earlier (bird’s nest custody), with alternative presence of parents in this accommodation according to the agreed schedule. It is proposed to improve the approaches to resolve judicial disputes about determination of the place of residence of a minor child, to implement and use, according the circumstances of the case, different methods (models) of resolving this category of disputes. Key words: child’s physical custody, legal disputes between parents, judicial disputes concerning determination of the minor child's place of residence.