The Croatian Association for Equal Parenting (HURR) has assessed that the Draft Proposal of the Family Law, which was released for public discussion last week and withdrawn after 24 hours, represents a belittlement of many rights and obligations of children and parents, such as equal parenting, and opposes the definition of family, according to which a family consists of a father, mother, and their children, as in that case many of their members cannot be considered a family.
The president of the association, Oliver Čanić, emphasized that neither the current Family Law nor the Draft of the new law addresses the key issue, which is that some parents, primarily fathers, are prevented from seeing their children due to manipulation and alienation from one parent, or they see them less than they should according to court decisions.
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– In Croatia, we have about 6,000 divorces each year involving more than 5,000 children, and among them, more than 30 percent are conflictual divorces, which means that more than 1,500 children do not see one parent or see them far less than the court decision stipulates, and it is usually fathers, said Čanić at a press conference.
He referred to the words of former Minister of Social Policy and Youth Milanka Opačić, who praises the parenting plan from the current law, under which 70 percent of parents managed to agree on child care, and says that in such cases parents can agree without laws, social welfare centers, and courts, but what about the 30 percent of conflictual divorces.
– The problem is that no law addresses manipulation and alienation of children from one parent, which must be a criminal offense. There is a large number of irresponsible parents who use the child as an object of their relationships, and this is something that must be stopped. The draft law does not define steps for implementation, said Čanić.
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The association’s lawyer and member of the working group for the development of the new Family Law, Hrvoje Jurić, said that the association, during three meetings in which it participated as part of a broader group for drafting the law, wanted to contribute to resolving the issue of equal parenting with its comments, but nothing was adopted except for the general stance that parents are equal regarding children.
– The association believes that such a draft is poor in terms of protecting the interests of children in the divorce process, in future life, and in the participation of parents in the upbringing and education of their own children, said Jurić. He added that at the last meeting of the broader working group, where half of the members were absent, there was no voting on the draft law, but the Ministry of Demography, Family, Youth, and Social Policy decided to release the law for public discussion due to deadlines.
Jurić also commented on the definition of family from the Draft Proposal of the Family Law, which has caused the most uproar in public.
– We did not participate in that and believe that it should not be defined, especially not in that way. It is a worldview issue, and according to this definition, which we do not support and will not support, the fact is that the vast majority of us do not represent a family, said Jurić.
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– It is absurd that institutions engage in defining what a family is, while on the other hand, what is a natural, legitimate human right – the right of a child to both parents and the parents’ right to an active role in raising and growing their children, is unfortunately absent from the family law, said Damir Doroda.
When asked at the end if he is the new Ombudsman for Children, Hrvoje Jurić replied that he is one of five candidates.
– The parliamentary committee will propose two candidates, and the Parliament will propose one – whether it will be me or someone else, we will see, he commented.
