Universaalsed inimõigused siseriiklikus kontekstis: lapse õiguste rakendamine Eestis, Soomes ja Venemaa

Inimõiguste universaalsus on rahvusvahelises õiguses tunnustatud dogma. Doktoritöö eesmärk oli välja selgitada lapse õiguste näitel, kas ja millisel määral on inimõiguste unviersaalsus riiklikus rakendamispraktikas tegelikult teostunud. Teisisõnu uuritakse, kuidas Eesti, Soome ja Venemaa on tõlgendanud ÜRO lapse õiguste konventsiooni ning millisel määral järgitakse rahvuslikes õiguskordades konventsiooni nõudeid. Kui riikide rakenduspraktika erineb konventsiooni nõuetest oluliselt, siis üritatakse töös välja tuua põhjuseid, miks neid ei järgita. Töö hüpotees on, et isegi nii laialdaselt ratifitseeritud lepingu kui ÜRO lapse õiguste konventsiooni puhul ei ole võimalik rääkida normide universaalsusest, kuna riikide poolt lepingu sätetele antud tähendus ning tõlgenduspraktikad erinevad kultuuriliste arusaamade ja väärtuste tõttu oluliselt. Töö eesmärgi saavutamiseks analüüsiti esmalt, millised on rahvusvaheliste inimõiguste normide riikliku rakendamise üldised põhimõtted ning valupunktid. Seejärel analüüsiti detailsemalt lapse definitsiooni ning lapse parimate huvide põhimõtte rakendumist vaadeldud õiguskordades. Doktoritöö tulemusena selgub, et isegi konventsiooni aluspõhimõtete rakenduspraktika erineb riigiti oluliselt, sealhulgas tuginevad riigid konventsiooni mittejärgmisel ka näiteks traditsiooniliste väärtuste argumentidele. Doktoritöös näidatakse ka, et ÜRO lapse õiguste konventsiooni rakendamise üle järelevalvet teostav lapse õiguste komitee ei ole oma tegevuses järjekindel ning jätab mitmed konventsiooniga vastuolus olevad rakendamise juhud lääneriikide puhul tähelepanuta. Üheks selliseks näiteks oli laste abielu lubatavuse küsimus, kus komitee ei ole analüüsitud riikidele soovitanud kehtestada üheselt mõistetavalt alaealise abiellumise keeldu. Doktoritöös pakutakse välja, et konventsiooni täitmise võti on just lapse õiguste komitee käes, kes saaks jõulisema tegutsemisega tagada seda, et liikmesriigid mõistavad lepingu nõudeid ühetaoliselt. See omakorda tagaks konventsiooni parema järgimise.Universality of international human rights is a mainstream argument in international law. The ultimate aim of this dissertation is to analyse the interpretation and implementation of selected children’s rights in three states: Estonia, Finland, and Russia (hereinafter ‘the states’ or ‘the three states’). In particular, whether significant differences occur in the national implementation of the minimum core of these – purportedly universal – rights and what factors might cause any such differences are discussed. The main hypothesis of the work is that even in such a universally recognized document as the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the universality claim does not hold true for the understanding, and, furthermore, the interpretation and practical application of the minimum core of rights in these states differs considerably. For achieving this goal, the conditions of national implementation of international human rights were first analysed. Secondly, the implementation of two primary principles of the CRC were analysed in Estonia, Finland, and Russia: the definition of a child and the best interests of a child. The research undertaken showed that there were considerable differences in the national implementation of the rights of the child. A number of these discrepancies were substantiated in different values or traditions. It was also shown that the practice of the CRC Committee is not consistent as it disregards several practices inconsistent with the CRC. One of such examples is child marriage, where the CRC Committee did not recommend the analysed states to implement the ban on child marriages. The dissertation proposes that more vigorous work of the CRC Committee in interpreting the norms and following up the developments of the states would have a positive effect on national legal systems and would guarantee better implementation of the CRC

Child’s best interest in child protection legislation of 44 jurisdictions

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Services and support for mothers and newborn babies in vulnerable situations: A study of eight European jurisdictions

European countries have a legal obligation to provide services to vulnerable families, and children must not be removed from their parents’ care unless no other viable measures are available. This paper examines whether and how eight jurisdictions provide necessary support and services to families with newborn babies who are considered to be at risk in the child protection system. The data consist of all judgments (n = 216) concerning care orders for 220 newborns for periods ranging from one to several years. The analysis shows that services are provided in an overall majority of the cases but with distinct differences between jurisdictions. These differences are not due to the type of child protection system. Furthermore, we cannot ascertain whether service provision follows parental problems, or identify similarities due to the special case of newborns. We conclude that there are huge knowledge gaps regarding both service provision and the effects of services.publishedVersio

The Hidden Proceedings – An Analysis of Accountability of Child Protection Adoption Proceedings in Eight European Jurisdictions

How accountable are decisions about terminating parental rights to ensure an adoption from care? In this paper we examine if the proceedings in eight European jurisdictions are accountable to: a) the private parties, i.e. individuals that are concerned – such as parents, child; b) the general public that authorized the politicians and the government to make legislation; and c) the elected government, i.e. the legislators and the system that have granted the court, court-like or administrative body the authority to make these decisions. Our data material consists of national legislation, organizational guidelines (courts, child protection, or supervisory agencies), statistics and expert knowledge. The conclusions of our analysis are discouraging. There is only limited accountability for one of the most intrusive interventions by a state into the private lives of individuals. There is a lack of information about the proceedings as well as a lack of transparency. We identify systems that, with few exceptions, operate in isolation, with only a few outsiders having access or knowledge about what is going on. We cannot in this study say anything about the decision-making quality in these proceedings, they may be excellent, but the problem is that very few external actors are in a position to examine the quality of the decisions. This missing connection between the wider democratic society and this part of the legal systems in the eight democracies we studied is of huge concern, and we have indications that the situation is equally concerning in other European states

International Human-Rights Supervision Triggering Change in Child-Protection Systems? The Effectiveness of the Recommendations of the CRC Committee in Estonia

Estonia’s legal system is generally regarded as very accepting of international (human-rights) law, with treaties in this domain and associated supervisory practice being implemented directly by national courts. The article analyses whether this extends to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the recommendations of the CRC Committee on ways to improve the Estonian national child-protection system. The main question examined is whether the CRC Committee’s ‘Concluding Observations’ have had an impact and been effective with regard to the Estonian child-protection system. The article lays out and further develops the framework proposed by Krommendijk for analysing the impact and effectiveness of international human-rights work with respect to national legal systems. The author begins by situating this theoretical framework in the context of the CRC and the Estonian legal system and then providing a brief description of Estonia's reporting process. The bulk of the paper is concerned with research presenting the development of the following elements of the child-protection system in aims of analysing the effectiveness of the CRC Committee's recommendations: general principles with relevance for the child-protection system, the institutional set-up, issues related to the implementation of the child's right to be free from any form of violence (along with any relevant procedural rights), and the placement of a child within the child-protection system

A comparative analysis of the Child Protection Systems in the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania and Russia

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Rebuilding the Court System of Estonia after the Communist Regime

A thorough and fundamental reorganisation of the Estonian judicial system and replacement of judges took place in 1987–1993. The judicial system of the Estonian SSR was part of the repressive communist state power, with the courts’ independence being very limited: the courts in Estonia were subject to the control of the USSR’s courts, and the law was applied in close co operation with the executive power. The article shows how the perception of the judiciary and the role of judges changed during the transition period. The main focus is on the stages of judicial reform from the beginning of the transitional period until the implementation of the new Courts Act in 1993. The article analyses how the role of the judiciary in the emerging democratic society was seen in the transition era’s debates, which addressed changes in the professional requirements for judges and the process of becoming a judge

Family Life for Children in State Care An Analysis of the European Court of Human Rights’ Reasoning on Adoption Without Consent

This paper examines what set of familial circumstances allow for the justifiable interference with the right to respect for family life under Article 8, echr. We analyse all the Courts’ judgments on adoptions from care to find out what the Court means by a “family unit” and the “child´s best interest”. Our analysis show that the status and respect of the child’s de facto family life is changing. This resonates with a view that children do not only have formal rights, but that they are recognised as individuals within the family unit that states and courts must address directly. Family is both biological parents and child relationships, as well between children and foster parents, and to a more limited extent between siblings themselves. The Court’s understanding of family is in line with the theoretical literature, wherein the concept of family reflects the bonds created by personal, caring relationships and activities

Services and support for mothers and newborn babies in vulnerable situations: A study of eight European jurisdictions

European countries have a legal obligation to provide services to vulnerable families, and children must not be removed from their parents’ care unless no other viable measures are available. This paper examines whether and how eight jurisdictions provide necessary support and services to families with newborn babies who are considered to be at risk in the child protection system. The data consist of all judgments (n = 216) concerning care orders for 220 newborns for periods ranging from one to several years. The analysis shows that services are provided in an overall majority of the cases but with distinct differences between jurisdictions. These differences are not due to the type of child protection system. Furthermore, we cannot ascertain whether service provision follows parental problems, or identify similarities due to the special case of newborns. We conclude that there are huge knowledge gaps regarding both service provision and the effects of services