Guardianship Authority Research Articles

LEGAL PROTECTION OF CHILDREN'S RIGHTS AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION IN UKRAINE

The issue of ensuring children's rights is one of the most important areas of legal science. Today, the formation of the foundations for the protection of the rights, freedoms and interests of the younger generation is a priority of the state. Complex socio-economic, military-political and epidemiological problems force to focus efforts on the analysis and generalized bases that determine the algorithm of legal protection of children's rights and its implementation in Ukraine. The article identifies international documents and acts of national legislation, on the basis of which the foundations of legal protection of children's rights in Ukraine are formed. Emphasis was placed on the need to address issues of juvenile probation, social orphanhood, and the realization of the rights of children who find themselves in difficult life circumstances and in need of assistance. The process of legal, social, housing provision of children who are in the area of environmental protection deserves special attention. According to the results of the study, a list of key positions that characterize the basics of legal protection of children in modern Ukraine has been formed. Despite the wide range of legal regulations, the issue of legislative support of the legal status of children in Ukraine is not a complete solution. Thanks to the fruitful work of authorized bodies (public authorities and their representatives, guardianship authorities, social services), parents and children it is possible to achieve a high level of social protection, timely respond to social risks and challenges that arise in modern society. Coherence and interaction of key actors is a necessary component of the process of legal protection of children's rights. Subject to strict compliance with the provisions of the law, the implementation of international standards and policy documents adopted at the highest level, it is possible to significantly improve the legal status of children's rights in Ukraine.

SOCIAL REACTION TO JUVENILE CRIME

Social reaction to juvenile crime has evolved over time toghether with crime. In the initial period, juveniles were punished like adults and the primary purpose of punishment was repression, which is quite different today. In terms of punishment of juvenile offenders, our country has accepted the widely used system which is primarily characterised by the protection and education of juveniles. Therefore, the Act on Juvenile Criminal Offenders and Criminal-law Protection of Juveniles introduced educational orders whose primary purpose is to reduce the institutional treatment of juveniles and to contribute to their rehabilitation through their active involvement and improving relations with the victim. To this effect, the most preferable measures are educational measures whose main purpose is to provide assistance, supervision and rehabilitation of minors, and to prevent commission of crimes in the future. The most common educational measures are measures of intensive supervision which imply greater control over a minor by a parents, another family member or the guardianship authority. Institutional measures are the least common because they are the most serious kind of educational/correctional measures. In this system, the punishment of imprisonment is used exceptionally; thus, juvenile imprisonment is the last resort punsihment, which may be applied only against an older juvenile.

Subjects of guardianship of a minor's property in sharia law and family law of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The research examinesthe subjects of guardianship of a minor’s property in the Sharia Law and the Family Law of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The main purpose of the study is to determine the extent to which the normative solutions regarding the subjects of guardianship of a minor are convergant or divergant in the two legal systems. After the term guardianship is defined and its role is discussed, we proceed with a thorough analysis of the subjects of guardianship: a ward, the Guardianship Authority and a quardian. The special attention is given to the analysis of the conditions and criteria for performing duties of a guardian. The question whether being a guardian is voluntarily based or it is a legal duty is treated carefully. In the process of research and writing up the current paper the following methods were used: an analytical-synthetic method and a comparative method. We have reached the conclusion that the two legal systems are compatible with regard to the conceptual definition and theoretical explanation of the purpose of guardianship as well as in with regard to the standardization of work capacity, the ability to perform duties of a guardian and ethical standards being a prereguisite for a quardian. The differences appear in relation to the scope of a guardian’s protection, the concept of the Guardianship Authority, the inclusion of religious criteria in or its exclusion from the requirements for a quardian, and the way in which a guardian of the property is determined.

The Legal Status and Functions of Custody and Guardianship Authorities

Review. This article considers models of developing custody and guardianship authorities in Russia: 1) state model - as executive bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, 2) mixed model - as local government with delegated public powers of guardianship, 3) municipal - as local government with their own powers of guardianship. The study found that the practice of legal regulation in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation gravitates towards a mixed model of developing custody and guardianship authorities, but the process of choosing a model has not been completed so far. The author raises a question of the regulatory and control role at the federal level of child protection in the light of the Russian-American relations on the international adoption of children. At an international level the author also considers a municipal model of the guardianship authorities in several European countries, characterized by giving broad powers to local governments on guardianship, and lack of state control. The author criticizes this model by virtue of the exclusion of the state's responsibility for ensuring children 's rights. The author proves the necessity for the approval of the public nature of guardianship authorities, which is connected with their importance for the promotion of human rights, particularly of such a special subject of humanitarian relations as a child. The main functions of the child protection services allocated depending on the entity whose rights require protection are considered. They include: adult citizens, adjudged incapable or limited in legal capacity; minors: a) being brought up in a family, b) being in a difficult situation, c) deprived of parental care, d) deprived of parental care and arranged in families. The author concludes that the scope of powers of custody and guardianship authorities and mechanisms for ensuring children's rights vary depending on the category of minors, as various groups of children require various measures for ensuring their rights. The limits of authority of the custody and guardianship authorities are revealed in the light of the principle of the inadmissibility of arbitrary interference in family matters.

Основные векторы и проблемы развития социального законодательства

The article on the guidelines for the development of social legislation of the Russian Federation predicts a rapid and accelerated development of this block of Russian law system.Among the largescale trends typical for social legislation the author includes: expanding of the scope of regulation (juridification) and the corresponding expansion of legal regulations, differentiation of social legislation on the new brunches (in particular, immigration legislation), the formation of new sub-brunches within
 the existing ones (for instance, labor relations in the public service) and institutions (biotechnology and so on).
 The article discusses some “growth problems” of social legislation: the tendency of commercialization of the sphere leads to a decrease of the quality of services, the weakening of safeguards for the most vulnerable categories of citizens (for example, cancellation of the rules on prior consent of the guardianship authorities to carry out transactions with premises where childrenlive, led to a decline of living conditions of many minors of the Russian Federation). As a result the very content of constitutional rights is expressly questioned. At the same time it is underlined that the positive aspect of social legislation juridificationis the appearance of new obligations of the state in the social sphere.
 To overcome the existing problems and to prevent new onesit is proposed to strengthen the role of science in determining the broad guidelines of development of social legislation in the systematization of social legislation, unification of regional legislation in the social sphere, preventing the rejection of statutory approach in the formation of the secondary legislation, reduction of by-law regulation, strengthening the greater coherence of other branches of Russian legislation with the norms of social legislation.
 Optimization of legislative regulation through the adoption of the Federal Law “On Normative Legal Acts” will contribute to the elimination of many defects of social legislation and greater stability of legislation of the Russian Federation in the whole.

Body Modification - Körperverletzung oder Kultur? Eine amtsärztliche Begutachtung

In connection with manually performed and lasting changes in themselves, known as body modification, the guardianship authority Zurich examined together with the city's public health physician at the request of relatives of the person affected, whether guardianship measures were to set up to the person concerned to protect against further changes to her body. The legal and medical examination revealed that the person concerned must be judicious about applying changes to her body and no further measures are necessary.

AGENCY AND MORAL RELATIONSHIP IN DEMENTIA

Abstract: This essay examines the goals of care and the exercise of guardianship authority in the long‐term care of persons with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of chronic, progressive dementia. It counters philosophical views that deny both agency and personhood to individuals with Alzheimer's on definitional or analytic conceptual grounds. It develops a specific conception of the quality of life and offers a critique of hedonic conceptions of quality of life and models of guardianship that are based on a hedonic legal standard of “best interests.” As an alternative, it proposes a conception of quality of life based on the notions of “semantic agency” and “memorial personhood.”

Involuntary Treatment of Alcohol-Dependent Patients: A Study of 17 Consecutive Cases of Civil Commitment

Aim: To investigate the baseline and follow-up characteristics of a group of alcohol-dependent patients being treated under civil commitment. Methods: This study involved a cross-sectional comparative analysis of baseline characteristics and a follow-up survey of a group of committed alcoholic patients. The study was undertaken in the Alcohol Unit of a 1,000-bed general and university hospital. The study included 17 consecutive cases of civil commitment (representing 15 patients, of whom 2 were committed twice) and a comparative group of 34 randomly selected age- and sex-matched patients. Baseline characteristics of the cases (at the time of commitment) and of patients from the comparative group were collected from medical records, including sociodemographic data, medical condition, patterns of drinking and number and dates of previous treatments for alcohol-related problems. A structured follow-up interview of the cases provided information on their medical condition, social status, patterns of alcohol use, type and duration of residential treatment as well as their perceptions of commitment. Results: During a 4-year period, our Unit referred 23 cases of alcohol-dependent patients (out of 367) to the Guardianship Authority, requesting civil commitment. On 17 occasions, patients were committed to residential treatment, including 2 patients who underwent commitment on two separate occasions, thus representing a total of 15 different patients. In comparison with age- and sex-matched patients seen at the Unit, the cases were characterized by multiple medical, social and psychological alcohol-related impairments. At the time of follow-up, 14 out of 15 patients were alive, among whom 10 agreed to be interviewed. Eight of these reported complete abstinence, whereas 9 considered their alcohol problem as less severe than before. The average duration of commitment was 29 weeks. The majority of patients retrospectively considered the measure as having been justified and useful. The patients’ satisfaction with the decision to commit was higher among women than among men. Health-related quality of life at the time of follow-up, as assessed by the MOS 36-Item Short Form Health Survey questionnaire, was good on average and better than that usually reported by other cohorts of alcoholics undergoing treatment. Conclusions: The usefulness of residential civil commitment of certain severely impaired alcohol-dependent patients is underscored. This study suggests that civil commitment not only may save the lives of endangered patients but could also be a health-promoting measure that may sometimes allow for recovery from dependence. Unexpectedly, this measure was retrospectively well accepted by many patients, who considered the commitment decision as having been justified and useful.

Przestępstwa uprowadzenia lub zatrzymania małoletniego lub osoby nieporadnej (art. 188 K.K.)

Przestępstwa uprowadzenia lub zatrzymania małoletniego lub osoby nieporadnej (art. 188 K.K.)