Is It Necessary to Have a Permission from One Parent for a Child to Permanently Live with Other Parent in Foreign Country If Parents Live Separately and Child's Place of Residence Is Set with One of the Parents?

Šiame darbe keliamas skyrium gyvenančio tėvo sutikimo reikalingumo klausimas norint vaikui išvykti į užsienį nuolatos gyventi su vienu iš tėvų, su kuriuo nustatyta vaiko gyvenamoji vieta. Lietuvos įstatymai nenumato imperatyvios normos, kuri nustatytų tokio sutikimo gavimo būtinumą, tačiau teismai formuoja praktiką, jog vaiko išvežimas yra neteisėtas, kai vaikas išvyksta su vienu iš tėvų, tačiau nėra gautas antrojo tėvo (motinos) sutikimas, nes priešingu atveju pažeidžiamos vieno iš tėvų globos teisės ir atsiranda potenciali rizika pažeisti vaiko interesus. Tačiau kodėl tėvas, su kuriuo nustatyta vaiko gyvenamoji vieta, negali išsivežti vaiko gyventi į užsienį? Kodėl negavus sutikimo pažeidžiamos globos teisės? 1980 m. spalio 25 d. buvo pasirašyta Hagos konvencija dėl tarptautinio vaikų grobimo civilinių aspektų. Lietuvoje minėta Konvencija įsigaliojo 2002 m. balandžio 26 d., tačiau įsitvirtino tik 2007-aisiais . Nuo to laiko praėjo beveik dešimtmetis, tačiau taikant Konvenciją Lietuvoje vis dar kylą daugybė neaiškumų dėl Konvencijoje vartojamų sąvokų, kurios nėra pakankamai tiksliai išaiškintos arba jų apibrėžimai nesutampa su nacionalinėje teisėje įtvirtintomis normomis. Tai apsunkina tarptautinių ginčų, kylančių tarp tėvų dėl vaikų, sprendimo eigą ir sudaro galimybę vienam iš tėvų atlikti tam tikrus neteisėtus veiksmus, pažeidžiančius vaiko ar kito globėjo/tėvo teises, tačiau kartu įrodo, kad pasirinkta baigiamojo darbo probleminė tema vis dar yra aktuali ir Lietuvoje mažai analizuota. Dėl šios priežasties baigiamajame darbe pateikiama vaiko ir vaiko teisių sampratos analizė, nustatomos vaiko išvykimo į užsienį galimybės, identifikuojami, užsienio teisinėse sistemose įtvirtinti, vaiko persikėlimo apribojimai. Vadovaujantis Lietuvos ir užsienio šalių moksliniais ir internetiniais šaltiniais atliekama vaiko grobimo sąvokos civilinėje teisėje analizė. Lyginant užsienio šalių teisinėse sistemose numatytą reglamentavimą ir Lietuvoje formuojamą praktiką, atskleidžiamos neteisėto vaiko išvežimo iš šalies, ir skyrium gyvenančio tėvo sutikimo vaikui norint išvykti į užsienį, sąsajos. Atlikta mokslinė analizė patvirtino hipotezę, kad norint išvykti su vaiku į užsienį nuolatos gyventi būtinas skyrium gyvenančio tėvo sutikimas, tačiau tik tuo atveju, jei vaiko teisinę globą vykdo abu tėvai drauge. Nors nei tarptautiniuose, nei Europos sąjungos teisės aktuose tiesiogiai nėra numatytas reikalavimas gauti skyrium gyvenančio tėvo sutikimą norint išvykti į užsienį, o Šengeno erdvėje asmenys apskirtai gali nevaržomai judėti iš vienos šalies į kitą, tačiau Lietuvoje įtvirtintas tėvų teisių lygybės principas riboja vieno iš tėvų teisę spręsti vaiko gyvenamosios vietos pakeitimo klausimą, be antrojo sutikimo.This Master’s graduation paper researches an important issue of moving of children for living into a foreign country, and the problem of illegal taking over of the children without the consent of another parent who lives separately. Wrongful removal or retention of the child (child abduction) is a serious situation when, upon the initiative of one of the partners, the child is taken out from his/her habitual residence to another country, or is kept in another country by breaching his/her interests and the rights of the other parent. For the purpose of protecting the child from damage which can be inflicted by taking the child out of his/her usual living place, or his/her close living place, and their parents, on October 25th, 1980 the Hague on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction was signed. In Lithuania this Convention was enforced on April 26th, 2002, but was established in practice only in 2007, due to which the greater part of the provisions of the Convention, such as illegal taking over of children to other counties, is still in the stage of formation and this by itself shows that it is still a new and important problem of the legal system of Lithuania. Relocation law is very widespread in the United States as the country consists of lots of states with different jurisdictions which further aggravate the issue of children wrongful removal or custody. The relocation laws defines certain rules which shall be followed by parents who can take the child only after they implement certain requirements and liabilities, and if they do not fulfill or breach them, it is presumed that the taking over of the child or retention was illegal. It helps to protect the interests of the child in a faster and more efficient manner as there is no need for any additional processes to proof the fact of wrongful removal of the child. On the other hand, in the Lithuanian legal system, the right of child removal is not defined, the very issue of the child movement to another country was of very little of consideration. However this remains important to any family or person who has underage children and plans to go to live abroad with them. When the parents of a child live separately, one more problem arises because it is not clear if one parent needs to get the consent of the other parent with whom the living place was defined, if he/she wants to leave abroad with the child. In case of a divorce, the court defines the living place of the child with one of the parents, the other parent receives the right to define for oneself the procedures of communicating with the child. And there is a question on this basis – whether the definition of the living place with one of the child‘s parents provides any advantage towards the other parents in relation to the care of the child and taking important decisions in the life of the child? Neither the Convention of Hague of 1980, nor the Lithuanian legal system has a clear imperative requirement to receive the consent of another parent living separately if the other parent wants to leave abroad with the child, but, on the basis of the practice formed by the courts of law of the Republic of Lithuania, such a consent is necessary as otherwise it is considered that the child was taken over and kept illegally (was abducted). The first chapter of the Master‘s paper will analyse the concept of a child and his/her rights. It also provides a detailed overview how the concept of the child is defined, when the childhood starts and ends, defines the age categories of children in the basic legal literature, which forms of the personal capacity it covers, and what rights are provided to the child. It also analyses the major rights guaranteed to a child, which national and international legal acts enforce their protection, and from what moment protection of the rights of the child start, and when such exclusive protection ends. The second chapter of this Master graduation thesis investigates the very fact of child take over. It will be indicated that there is the right of free movement and there will be an analysis how the interests of children are protected in the member countries which define movement restrictions of children under their national legal systems. There is also a discussion of the possibilities for parents to define the place of living of a child on a mutual agreement basis or to apply to the court of law for the definition of the place of living of a child with one of the parents, the main principles are analysed on the basis of which the Lithuanian courts undertake decisions for the definition of the child‘s living place with one of the parents. The third chapter of the thesis defines the concept of child abduction and separates concept of child abduction under the Hague Convention of 1980 from the child kidnapping under criminal law. The relationship of child living place and child care under the international level will also be investigated. The relevant provisions of the 1980 Hague Convention are defined for international child abduction aspects related to illegal child removal or retention (as long as it is related to the problem of child moving). There is an analysis on how the consent of parents for taking over the child to live abroad is regulated by the member countries of the Convention and the regulation of the same issue in the countries which are not members of this Convention. Also, child abduction conditions will be overviewed as these are defined under the Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 of 27 November 2003 concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility, repealing Regulation (EC) No 1347/2000 (Brussels IIa) and there will be an analysis of the Lithuanian courts practice related to the breaches of law made by the Lithuanian parents in the area of wrongful removal or retention of children in the country which is not the usual living place of the child. In conclusion, this graduation Master’s thesis will analyse the national and international legal sources, knowledge received during the studies will be used for the purpose of identifying whether it is necessary to get the permission of a separately living parent to take the child for permanent living abroad with one of the parents with whom the place of living of the child was defined.Teisės fakultetasVytauto Didžiojo universiteta