Judicial status of parents and guardians in proceedings in cases of juveniles

The 1928 law of criminal procedure previously regulating proceedings in cases of juveniles did not clearly define the judicial status of parents and guardians in that proceedings. The scope of rights of those persons was considered to be narrow. They were supposed to be summoned before a court, provided that the service of the documents was not creating particular difficulties. Yet, the court was entitled to demand the obligatory appearance at the hearing, in case of evading that obligation coercive measures provided for witnesses were applied. At the trial, those persons wese vested with the right to make statements and motions. The new act of Oct, 26, 1982 bestowed those persons with the status of litigant parties and extended their rights in a considerable way. The rights of parents and guardians as parties in litigation are autonomous, resulting from the fact of a defined consanguinity or from excercising a guardianship upon a juvenile, established judicially or existing factually. They are not resulting from the statutory representation of a juvenile. Parents and guardians as the litigant parties act in their own name and not in the name of a juvenile, they do not also have to act on his behalf although they usually do so, the results of their acts do not have to concern a juvenile, as parents and guardians can act in the proceedings in their own favor. It is a different question that usually there is a commutation observed m the roles of a litigant party and a statutory representative of a juvenile whose case is under trial.Applying new judicial provisions is not simple though, as the judicial status of parents and guardiand as the litigant parties is presently determined by the three normative acts. Apart of the mentioned act of 1982 on proceedings in cases of juveniles the regulations provided in Codes of Civil and Criminal Procedure has also to be applied. Provisions of civil law procedure of nonlitigious mode are employed in case of examination and clarification proceedings, in guardian's and educational proceedings, in cases of applying medical and educational measures and partly in appeal proceedings. But if the evidence taking acts are performed by the Citizens' Militia provisions of Code of Criminal Procedure must be applied then, irrespectively of the stage and mode of the proceedings. Provisions of that Code also apply in reformatory proceedings and partly in appeal proceedings if the decision of reformatory measure is being appealed against or if the appeal demands applying that measure, as well as in criminal proceedings when it is conducted against a juvenile on exceptional bases in cases defined in the act. The detailed discussion of the scope of rights and obligations of parents and guardians in the proceedings in cases of juveniles as well as various complexities observed in the new regulation can be found in the published article. The author discusses, among the other things, the acceptable direction of parents' and guardians' acts in the proceedings in cases of juveniles, concurrence with the status of injured party, measures to be applied directly to the parents as eg. imposition of a duty to redress the damage, caused by a juvenile, burdening with costs of the proceedings, etcDigitalizacja i deponowanie archiwalnych zeszytów RPEiS sfinansowane przez MNiSW w ramach realizacji umowy nr 541/P-DUN/201