Custody of the children in Europe: a comparative research

It is universally acknowledged that the role of a parental figure has a huge direct influence on children's health, both from a psychological and physical point of view. After divorce of the parental couple many European... [ view full abstract ]

It is universally acknowledged that the role of a parental figure has a huge direct influence on children's health, both from a psychological and physical point of view. After divorce of the parental couple many European children lose the possibility to keep in contact with one of their parents, with dramatic social and biomedical consequences.
This research, lasted almost two years, aims at providing a general overview on the different practices of several (15) European countries on the subject of the protection of children's interests. This wide survey shows that there are still very different conceptions of children's protection, varying from country to country (contrary to the medical world where shared and common guidelines usually exist) and there is also a global inadequate perception of the importance of co-parenting principle: in most cases, one of the parents is originally marginalised as a consequence of judicial disposition. The research takes in account, country by country, of: percentage of equal custody, percentage of time spent by both parents after the divorce, percentage of physical shared custody (intended as ranges between 30 and 70% of the times spent by both the parents), percentage of legal joint and legal sole custody. An intervention of the EU institutions aimed at guaranteeing the protection of children's rights and harmonising existing good practices (as would happen in medical science) seems therefore urgently needed. There is also a clear need for switching from a formal-legal language to a scientific language, which could be understood and applied by all Member States as well as introduced into the relevant legal systems (in order to avoid discrimination based on children's nationality or the legal system the children are subject to).