CURRENT TRENDS IN ENSURING THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILD IN CHILD SUPPORT CASES

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УДК347.634/.637

DOI 10.37566/2707-6849-2021-2(35)-10

Vasyl DATSENKO,

Judge, the Lubny City Districtcourt of Poltava region,

coach of the National School of Judges of Ukraine,

Doctor of Law

CURRENTTRENDSINENSURINGTHEBESTINTERESTSOFTHECHILDINCHILDSUPPORTCASES

The article is sanctified to the application of the principle of ensuring the best interests of the child in the cases of recovery of alimony at the present stage of development of Ukrainian society.

It is determined that the regulation of family relations with the participation of the child is increasingly focused on ensuring the best interests of the child. This principle also includes an element of the child's material security, which should be understood as the child's right to protection and care, which are necessary to provide material needs.

The obligation of material support of the child is the responsibility of the state, which independently chooses the measures that will be used to achieve this goal.In Ukraine, the main responsibility for the child's financial support lies with the parents. The obligation to maintain the child is fulfilled by the parents voluntarily or compulsorily (by paying alimony). Alimony is accrued within the financial means of the parents, considering the living conditions necessary for the child's development.

After analyzing the latest updates in the legislation of Ukraine, the author found that the legislator is taking active measures to properly regulate the issue of alimony. However, the quality of the introduced norms is not always at the proper level, which leads to conflicts in their application. By interpreting the principle of ensuring the best interests of the child in some cases, the court has the opportunity to close such gaps. However, in other cases, such efforts by the court are futile, as a result conflicts arising from the application of such rules do not find an effective solution. It only hinders the solution of the issue of providing the child with the necessary material support

In opinion of author, the legislator should work to eliminate the problems listed in the article, and further improve the quality of the proposed rules in family law. Such norms should have not only a legitimate purpose, which is to ensure the interests of the child, but also an effective implementation mechanism. Otherwise, it will not bring the desired benefits and generate ambiguous case law, which is harmful.

Keywords:the principle of ensuring the best interests of the child, alimony, family law relations.

References

Convention on the Right sof the Child of  20 november 1989 URL: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/789-12  [ukr.]

General comment No. 14 (2013) on the right of the child to have his or her best interests taken as a primary consideration, (art. 3, para.1). URL: https://www.refworld.org/docid/51a84b5e4.html

Family Code of January 10, 2002 No. 2947-III. URL: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/2947-14 [ukr.]

Basanska N.V. Alimony obligations of the spouses. Legal scientific electronic journal. 2018. № 2. P. 57–59. [ukr.]

On Amendments to Certain Legislative Actsto Improve the Protection of the Child's Right to Appropriate Maintenance: Law of Ukraine of May 17, 2017 № 2037-VIII. URL: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/2234-19#Text [ukr.]

Decision of the Supreme Court of March 11, 2020. URL: https://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/88601269 [ukr.]

Decision of the Supreme Court of January 25, 2021. URL: https://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/94666367 [ukr.]

Decision of the Supreme Court of September 4, 2019. URL:  https://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/84304665 [ukr.]

Decision of the Supreme Court of December 17, 2018. URL: https://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/78750476 [ukr.]

Decision of the Supreme Court of November 19, 2018. URL: https://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/78011318 [ukr.]

Decision of the Supreme Court of April 3, 2019. URL:    https://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/81573936. [ukr.]