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Romania - Periodic reports of States parties due in 1997: Addendum [2002] UNCRCSPR 11; CRC/C/65/Add.19 (5 July 2002)
UNITED NATIONS
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CRC
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Convention on the Rights of the Child
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Distr. GENERAL
CRC/C/65/Add.19 5 July
2002
Original: ENGLISH
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COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES
UNDER
ARTICLE 44 OF THE CONVENTION
Periodic reports of States parties due in 1997
ROMANIA[*]
[18 January 2000]
CONTENTS
Paragraphs Page
I. GENERAL IMPLEMENTATION
MEASURES 1 - 51 5
II. THE DEFINITION OF A CHILD (art. 1) 52 -
53 13
III. GENERAL PRINCIPLES 54 -
120 18
A. Non-discrimination (art. 2) 54 - 77 18
B. Best
interests of the child (art. 3) 78 - 97 22
C. Right to life, survival
and development (art. 6) 98 - 107 30
D. Respect for the views of the
child (art. 12) 108 - 120 32
IV. CIVIL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS 121 -
182 34
A. Name and nationality (art. 7) 121 -
129 34
B. Preservation of personal identity (art. 8) 130 -
136 36
C. Freedom of expression (art. 13) 137 -
139 37
D. Freedom of thought, conscience and religion (art. 14) 140 -
144 38
E. Freedom of association and peaceful assembly
(art. 15)
145 - 152 39
F. Protection of privacy (art. 16) 153 -
160 41
G. Access to appropriate information (art. 17 ) 161 -
167 42
H. The right not to be subjected to torture or other
cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment (art. 37 (a)) 168 -
182 44
V. FAMILY ENVIRONMENT AND ALTERNATIVE CARE 183 -
294 46
A. Parental guidance (art. 5) 183 -
190 46
B. Priority of parental responsibilities
(art. 18, paras.
1-2) 191 - 210 49
C. Child maintenance expenses 211 -
225 53
CONTENTS (continued)
Paragraphs Page
D. Separation from
parents (art. 9) 226 - 240 56
E. Children deprived of their family
environment
(art. 20) 241 59
F. Adoption (art. 21) 242 -
257 59
G. Non-compliance with decisions relating to the
child
(art. 11) 258 - 260 62
H. Abuse and neglect (art. 19)
261 - 271 63
I. Periodic review of placement (art. 25) 272 -
275 65
J. Children in difficulty 276 - 294 66
VI. BASIC
HEALTH AND WELFARE 295 - 399 72
A. Survival and development (art. 6,
para. 2) 295 - 301 72
B. Children with special needs (art. 23) 302
- 328 74
C. General issues concerning health care of children
in
Romania 329 - 338 79
D. Health care in schools 339 -
342 81
E. The health condition of children 343 -
349 82
F. Child mortality, by age group/maternal mortality 350 -
367 84
G. HIV/AIDS 368 - 370 87
H. Family planning 371 -
377 88
I. Social protection 378 - 391 89
J. The quality of
life 392 - 399 91
CONTENTS (continued)
Paragraphs Page
VII. EDUCATION, LEISURE
AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES 400 - 454 93
A. General information regarding
the education system 400 - 405 93
B. Relaunching rural education
406 - 409 95
C. The structure of the national education system 410
- 439 96
D. Recreation and leisure activities 440 -
454 102
VIII. SPECIAL PROTECTION MEASURES 455 -
555 104
A. Children in situations of emergency: refugee
children
(art. 22) 455 - 460 104
B. Children in conflict with the law 461 -
495 105
1. The administration of juvenile justice (art. 40) 461 -
481 105
2. Children deprived of their liberty, including
any
form of detention, imprisonment or placement in
custodial
settings (art. 37 (b), (c) and (d) 482 - 495 109
C. Children in
situations of exploitation 496 - 555 113
1. Economic exploitation
(art. 32) 496 - 502 113
2. Drug abuse (art. 33) 503 -
509 114
3. Sexual exploitation and sexual abuse (art. 34) 510 -
525 116
4. Sale, trafficking and abduction (art. 35) 526 -
535 118
D. Children belonging to an indigenous group
or an ethnic
minority (art. 30) 536 - 555 120
IX. CONCLUSION 556 - 558 125
I. GENERAL IMPLEMENTATION MEASURES
- According
to the provisions of paragraph 1 (b) of article 44 of the Convention on the
Rights of the Child and the guidelines on the
form and content of reports of
States parties to the Convention, the present periodic report on the measures
taken by Romania with
a view to implementing the Convention and on the progress
recorded between 1993 and 1998 is submitted to the United Nations Committee
on the Rights of the Child.
- Romania
ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child on 28 September 1990 by
passing Law No. 18/1990 and submitted the initial
report in 1993, the report
being presented to the Committee on the Rights of the Child in a public meeting
in the year 1994.
The Government’s reform strategy regarding the
legislative framework and structures involved in child protection
- Reviewing
the legislative framework in the area of child protection in the spirit of full
observance of the principles and provisions
contained in the Convention on the
Rights of the Child has been a priority in the development and implementation of
a coherent reform
strategy in the field. The reform of the system of protection
of the rights of the child, initiated in an emergency procedure by
the
Government of Romania in March 1997, is based on the following
principles:
(a) The principle of the priority of the
child’s best interest, which represents the reason for the establishment
of all measures
of protection;
(b) The principle of non-discrimination,
which allows every child whose development, security, and physical or moral
integrity are
in jeopardy to benefit from the measure of protection stipulated
by law;
(c) The decentralization of decision-making power and delegation
of responsibilities in the territory to local public
administration;
(d) To favour family-type alternatives to residential
care of children in difficulty.
- Fully
aware of the social and economic costs of the former system of child protection
promoted by the abrogated Law No. 3/1970, the
Government of Romania is
determined to achieve fundamental changes in the field. Consequently, the
Department for Child Protection
was established in January 1997 as part of the
Government’s executive structures, as a result of reorganizing the
National
Committee for Child Protection.
- In
a relatively brief interval, using limited resources, the Department for Child
Protection managed to introduce significant amendments
to the legislative
framework that make decentralization possible and support the concepts defined
in the Convention on the Rights
of the Child and recommendation 1286 of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The abovementioned changes
were materialized
in three emergency Ordinances and seven Government Decisions,
as follows:
Government Decision No. 205/1997 on the reorganization
of the activity of local public administration authorities in the domain of
the
protection of the rights of the child;
Emergency Ordinance No. 25/1997 on the legal aspects of adoption, approved by
Law No. 87/1998;
Emergency Ordinance No. 26/1997 on the protection of children in difficulty,
approved by Law No. 108/1998;
Government Decision No. 502/1997 on the reorganization of the Romanian
Committee for Adoption;
Government Decision No. 245/1997 on the criteria for authorizing private
organizations working for the protection of adopted children;
Government Decision No. 604/1997 on the criteria for authorizing private
organizations working for the protection of the child;
Government Decision No. 217/1997 on the conditions for certification,
procedures for certification and the status of the professional
maternal
assistant;
Emergency Ordinance No. 34/1998 on the reorganization of the Department for
Child Protection;
Government Decision No. 875/1998 on the organization and operation of the
Department for Child Protection;
Government Decision No. 117/1999 for approving the Methodological norms and
transitory measures for the implementation of the provisions
of Emergency
Ordinance No. 26/1997 on the protection of children in difficulty, as well
as the Methodology for coordinating the activities
of protection and promotion
of the rights of the child at a national level.
- The
strategy proposed by the Department for Child Protection and promoted in the
normative acts mentioned above is focused on the
protection of children in
difficulty, in an approach centred on the evolution of the legislative and
normative framework, the restriction
of central authority and administrative and
financial responsibility and its delegation to a local level, consolidating the
capacity
of local institutional factors in order to offer them the possibility
to provide effective services, to promote alternatives to the
current system of
residential care and to consolidate the role of the civil society in the domain
of child protection, by involving
local communities and nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs).
- The
implementation of this strategy and the complex nature of the newly emerging
activities and services revealed the necessity of
expanding the mandate and
functions of the Department for Child Protection from an activity mainly
oriented towards protecting children
in difficulty to nationwide coordination
and control of activities directed towards the protection and
promotion of the rights of the child. This was the main motivation for
reorganizing the Department for Child Protection in November
1998, which was
meant to facilitate the effective management of all the activities performed in
the domain of child protection.
- As
a consequence of the new regulations, several bodies have been established: the
Commissions for Child Protection, specialized
bodies of the county councils
presided over by the county secretary, as well as specialized public services
for the protection of
the rights of the child, placed under the authority of the
commissions and acting as their executive body.
- The
Commission for Child Protection is a specialized body within a county council
with decision-making powers in the field of the
protection of children in
difficulty and adopted children. In fulfilling its functions, the Commission
represents the authority
of the county council and coordinates activities in the
domain of tutelary authority and the protection of the rights of the child,
which includes the prevention of situations jeopardizing the child’s
security and development, activities managed by the local
councils in the
administrative-territorial units on the territory of the council where they
operate.
- The
public services specialized in child protection were initiated in 1997 by
decisions of the county councils or local council of
the municipality of
Bucharest under the name of Directorates for the Protection of the Rights of the
Child. They are established
as legal persons, and they are county- or
local-level public institutions.
- The
Department for Child Protection has supported from a methodological and
financial point of view the establishment of new structures
and has concluded
with the county councils and the local councils in the districts of the
municipality of Bucharest conventions of
cooperation concerning the organization
at a county or district level of activities for the protection of the rights of
the child.
The establishment of this partnership (which also leaves room for
the involvement of the non-governmental sector) is a form of actual
cooperation
between the State authorities and the civil society for supporting reform in the
domain of child protection.
The reform of the institutions for child
protection
- The
domain fraught with the most severe problems, which required immediate
intervention and that witnessed the most important changes,
is the protection of
children in residential care. The reform of the domain represents the most
important process of decentralization
in the Romanian public administration
after 1989, and it involved over 30,000 employees and over 200
units.
- At
present, the residential institutions for child protection (crèches and
children’s homes) have been removed from the
Ministry of Health and the
Ministry of National Education and reorganized as part of the specialized
county-level public services,
which provided them with the instruments they
needed to fulfil the functions assigned to them in the new legislation and,
implicitly,
an efficient resource management system in the
counties.
- Upon
completion of the transfer, the restructuring of these institutions became a
priority. They were to be reorganized as placement
centres whose main function
was to offer protection and care to children in an environment that was as close
as possible to a natural
family setting, which no longer had the obvious medical
or educational nature that was dominant before the switch.
- The
reform of residential care institutions involves major difficulties,
particularly in the case of large units hosting over 200
children, and in the
case of counties where the decentralized directorates of the above-mentioned
ministries fail to be cooperative
enough. There are also difficulties in the
monitoring and protection of children abandoned in hospitals.
- Seventy
residential care units have been identified that require urgent intervention in
the domain of restructuring, and they have
become priority targets in the work
of county directorates for child protection and the future object of
international financing
projects (Social Development Fund, World Bank, EU/PHARE
project, etc.). Among these units there are some that operate in desolate
conditions and that have become the subject of attacks in the Western
media.
- In
the course of the restructuring process, child protection services have also
been diversified. Maternal care centres, day-care
centres, and day and recovery
centres for disabled children have been established with the right of children
to be raised in their
original families fully in mind. The newly created
services provide for active participation by the civil society in child
protection,
they have a profoundly community-oriented character and are in line
with Romania’s strategy of sectoral accession to European
structures.
- In
the autumn of 1998, the Government of Romania/Department for Child Protection
initiated the “Project to Reform the Child
Protection System for the Years
1999-2001” in partnership with the authorities of the local public
administration and with
the involvement of international organizations (World
Bank, Social Development Fund of the Council of Europe (SDFCE), UNICEF, USAID,
EU/PHARE, the Spanish and Swiss Governments, the SERA (Solidarité enfants
roumains abandonnés) Foundation) whose major
objective was to promote and
observe the rights of the child by the restructuring and development of the
service system in the field.
- The
first component of the project refers to the establishment and development in
Romania of a child protection system, based on more
active involvement by the
local community, to prevent children being abandoned and institutionalized, to
promote their removal from
institutions and to stimulate the quality of care in
residential institutions by changing them into family-type institutions capable
of responding to the real individual needs of children.
- The
second component of the project is represented by the “Street Children
Initiative”, a set of complex activities whose
aim is to diversify
and multiply services for street children, as well as to intensify efforts
towards reducing their number by family
and social
integration/reintegration.
- The
third component in the development of the project is to be concentrated on
institutional reform, as well as on training and raising
awareness among the
public, monitoring and evaluation. This dimension of the project involves the
improvement of central institutional
capacities to reform the child protection
system. It also involves the full monitoring and evaluation of the national
child protection
system.
- The
final aim of all the activities undertaken is to reduce the number of children
in residential care units, to increase the number
of children who are offered
protection in natural families through adoption or placement in host families,
to improve care in residential
units, to reduce the number of street and
abandoned children in the health-care system (maternal homes, paediatric
department, division
for neuro-psychomotor recovery of children,
etc.)
Reform in the domain of adoption
- The
new vision on the conditions of adoption in Romania was promoted by the
Department for Child Protection in Emergency Ordinance
No. 25/1997, approved by
Law No. 87/1998, and it is implemented by the Romanian Committee for
Adoption, whose activity is coordinated
by the Department for Child Protection;
the President of the Romanian Committee for Adoption is the head of the
Department for Child
Protection.
- The
reorganization of this specialized body, established to supervise and support
actions to protect adopted children, as well as
to foster international
cooperation in the field, was initiated in February 1997 when the Permanent
Secretariat of the Romanian Committee
for Adoption was transferred from the
Ministry of Health to the Department for Child Protection. The new structure
and functions
of the Romanian Committee for Adoption are stipulated in
Government Decision No. 502/1997.
- Among
the new elements introduced by this normative act, one that is particularly
worth mentioning is the involvement of the authorities
of the local public
administration in the central decisionmaking process, by the inclusion of the
secretaries of county councils
and the general secretary of the municipality of
Bucharest among the members of the Romanian Committee for
Adoption.
- Legislative
reform meant the switch to a new operating method, which resulted from unifying
procedures for domestic and international
adoptions, an attempt being made at
reducing the time spent in a residential unit and the waiting time of a child
who can be adopted,
and the close observance of applicable domestic and
international law.
- The
Romanian Committee for Adoption has negotiated and concluded cooperation
agreements with public authorities in other States that
are responsible for
international adoption. The agreements concluded are in line with Romanian law
and the provisions of the Hague
Convention on the Protection of Children
and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption of 29 May 1993,
ratified by Romania
by Law No. 84/1994. Further details on the subject are
included in chapter V, section F below.
Promoting and protecting the rights of the child
- Article
55 of Romania’s Constitution establishes the institution of the Ombudsman,
whose function is to protect the rights and
freedoms of the citizens. The
Ombudsman completes the system of democratic institutions characteristic of a
rule of law State, being
the main mechanism outside the legal system for the
protection of human rights in the citizens’ relationship with the
authorities
of the public administration.
- In
his/her work, the Ombudsman is independent of all public authorities and exerts
the functions assigned to that institution by the
law either upon the
notification of citizens whose rights have been violated by the authorities of
the public administration by illegal
administrative acts, or ex officio.
In fulfilling its functions, the Ombudsman is entitled to conduct
investigations, having access
to all the information held by public authorities,
secret documents included, while the recommendations issued cannot be subjected
to either parliamentary or judicial control.
- In
response to the requirements formulated in Recommendation No. 1286/1996 on a
European strategy for children, which encourages the
States members of the
Council of Europe to establish an ombudsman for children or any other structure
that can offer guarantees of
independence and the competence necessary for a
real promotion of the condition of the child, and that is accessible to the
general
public mainly through local contacts, a specialized department for the
protection of the rights of the child was established. Being
a centrally
organized institution, the role of local contacts can be assumed by
nongovernmental organization managing programmes
for children, whose main object
is to promote the rights of the child.
- The
Ombudsman intervenes upon notification either by children themselves, parents,
or legal guardians, or it can take action ex officio
upon finding out by
any other means that the rights and freedoms of a child have been violated
(information in the print or electronic
media, information coming from NGOs,
other information or data acquired in the course of investigation). The first
ex officio action
taken by the Ombudsman had as an object the violation of
the rights of the child, and the first notifications coming directly from
children were recorded beginning in 1999.
- From
August 1998 (the time when the specialized department actually started work) to
the moment when this report was drafted (July
1999), the Ombudsman intervened
in 61 cases of violation of the rights of the child, out of which 13
were ex officio cases. The
cases where the Ombudsman intervened refer to
the violation of the rights of children to benefit from care and protection
whenever
they lack parental care, and to benefit from placement, the periodic
assessment of the placement, a clear legal status, identification
documents,
material support, adequate treatment in the natural, extended, adoptive family,
etc.
- The
interventions were targeted at municipalities (the tutelary authority),
commissions for child protection, county councils, prosecutor’s
offices,
the police, ministries and other specialized bodies of the Government, which
usually responded within a brief interval.
This allowed the Ombudsman to
resolve 22 cases in a relatively short time. The situation brought to the
attention of the Ombudsman
was not confirmed in only 3 cases, while
in 19 cases the solution was in favour of the children.
- Having
found that some administrative procedures are potential sources for the
violation of the rights of the child, the Ombudsman
initiated a systematic study
of these procedures, with a focus on those referring to adoption. Over 300
files have been analysed
so far where the courts have approved the adoption.
The investigation referred exclusively to administrative acts, since the acts
issued by the judicial authority are not the object of the Ombudsman’s
activity, the independence of the judiciary being one
of the main constitutional
principles of a rule of law State.
- Some
aspects of the way in which the rights of the child are violated by the
authorities of the public administration, as well as
some suggestion on the
legislation, are to be found in the first Ombudsman’s Report drafted and
presented to the Parliament
for debate. A report on the observance of the
rights of the child is also nearing completion. It has been drafted from the
perspective
of the institution’s general competence to monitor the
activities of the public authorities to effectively support the observance
of
human rights.
- Law
No. 206/1998 approved the affiliation of the Ombudsman institution to the
International Ombudsman Institute and the European Ombudsman
Institute, which
consolidated the capacity of that institution to improve its work by approaching
from a scientific perspective the
problems concerning human rights, the
protection of civil rights, and the ombudsman institutions at a regional,
national, European
and international level.
- On
the other hand, with the same purpose of promoting and protecting the rights of
the child, the Department for Child Protection
proposes and supports the
development of a community service of assistance to children in exerting their
right to unhindered expression
of their opinions, within the specialized public
service for child protection. This service of multidisciplinary counselling is
going to offer children with a power of judgement the right to express their
opinions freely and to have their opinions considered
in any problem or
procedures that concern them, covering to a large extent the functions and
responsibilities of an ombudsman for
children.
- As
part of the above-mentioned service, upon the initiative of the Department for
Child Protection, action has been taken to establish
a “Child
Hotline”, which means that a three-figure phone number has been made
available that children can call free of
charge from anywhere in the country.
It can be used by all children and teenagers wishing to express an opinion about
the observance
or violation of their rights in the family, at school or in
society. The project is aimed at promoting and facilitating the connection
between children in difficulty and the specialized personnel working within the
social services made available to children.
Measures taken for disseminating the principles and
provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child at a national
level
- In
line with article 42 in the Convention, in which States parties commit
themselves to making known the principles and provisions
of the Convention to
adults and children by using adequate active means, the following types of
intervention have been made in Romania.
- The
Romanian Government’s initial report referring to the measures for the
implementation of the Convention, the list of problems
to consider in connection
with the initial report, the list of answers to the problems raised by the
Committee for the Rights of
the Child and the concluding observations of that
committee have been all published by the Department of Public Information within
the Government of Romania in Bulletin No. 4 (18) of May 1994 and distributed to
all central and local authorities, international
organizations, non-governmental
organizations, and other specialists involved in the field.
- The
National Committee for Child Protection (reorganized in January 1997 as the
Department for Child Protection) together with Save
the Children and UNICEF
organized from 2 to 4 June 1994 a national conference
entitled “Romania and the UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child”.
The event brought together over 220 participants, representatives of the
Parliament of Romania, the Government,
the county councils and the local
councils of the municipality of Bucharest, residential care units, specialized
institutions of
the Government (the Romanian Institute for Human Rights, the
Institute for the Protection of the Mother and Child, etc.), hospitals,
universities with departments specializing in the field, 38 nongovernmental
organizations and representatives of United Nations
organizations.
- The
final document of the conference - General Directions for the Future
Implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights
of the Child
- was the starting point for elaborating the National Action Plan in favour of
children, the first government initiative
that included the principles of the
Convention among its provisions, a document adopted by Government Decision
No. 972/1995.
- The
Convention on the Rights of the Child was translated in Romania into the
national language as early as 1990 by Save the Children,
both in its complete
version and in an abridged version for children. With the financial support of
UNICEF, this organization has
managed to publish the Convention in
over 250,000 copies so far. The latest printed version included material
containing a short
history of the adoption of the Convention, the
recommendations of the Committee and the important events that facilitated the
dissemination
and implementation of the Convention. Currently, the Convention
is being translated into Romanian and a children’s version
has been
published in Hungarian.
- The
text of the Convention has been published in Romania’s Official Gazette as
Law No. 18/1990 for the ratification of the Convention,
thus becoming
widely accessible to all concerned. Governmental and non-governmental
institutions have published a large amount of
material that includes the text of
the Convention. This material has been distributed free of charge to children,
teaching staff,
specialists working in the field, and central and local
authorities.
- The
Ministry of National Education (MNE) included civic education in the curricula
(for the 3rd, 4th, 7th and 8th grades) as a compulsory
subject that
includes topics and chapters referring to the rights of the child. Both the MNE
and other organizations have commissioned
the drafting of specialized teaching
materials to be used in classes on the rights of the child taught in schools,
materials that
are differentiated by content and age group.
- The
provisions of the Convention and their reflection in the Romanian realities have
been debated at a large number of national conferences
(The Rights of
Institutionalized Children, The Rights of Romanian Children, The Abused
Neglected Child, Street Children, Children
and Labour, etc.).
- Training
courses have been organized for staff working with children and for those who
are directly involved in implementing the Government’s
strategy for the
protection of children in difficulty. The first compulsory module in these
courses referred to the Convention on
the Rights of the Child. These efforts
need to be continued and multiplied, considering that the training programmes
have been concentrated
so far mainly in urban areas.
- Both
the Department for Child Protection, by means of its periodic bulletin entitled
“For the Benefit of Children”, and
other governmental and
non-governmental structures, by means of their own information materials,
conduct information and education
activities in the spirit of understanding and
implementation of the principles of the Convention.
- Children
themselves are included in extra-curricular activities (with the support of
Save the Children); they are involved in debates,
case studies, local and
national competitions, in the publishing of the opinion magazine
“Children’s Thoughts and Voices”;
a Children’s Forum is
organized on an annual basis where children can analyse the recommendations of
the Committee, they can
address questions to the Government’s
decisionmaking bodies and can meet representatives thereof in order to be better
informed
about the measures that may affect their education, health, social
protection and environment.
- As
a rule, the governmental and non-governmental sectors work together actively in
the process of promoting the rights of the child,
involving children and young
people in information and education campaigns, as well as in advocacy and
lobbying activities to the
benefit of children.
- The
mass media have mainly covered the extreme cases of violation of
children’s rights, and they grant more attention to sensational
facts to
the detriment of those with an educational value. Lately the media -
particularly the print media - have started presenting
documented approaches
that include a comparative analysis of the current situation with respect to the
provisions in Romanian law
and those of the Convention on the Rights of the
Child.
II. THE DEFINITION OF A CHILD
(art. 1)
- The
definition of a child, contained in article 1 of the Convention on the Rights of
the Child, is repeated in an identical formulation
in article 1, paragraph 2, of
Emergency Ordinance No. 26/1997 on the protection of children in
difficulty, stipulating that “a
child means every person below the age of
18 who does not have full capacity to exert his or her rights”. The new
legislation
promoted by the Government in 1997 replaces the term
“minor” used in previous legislation (Decree No. 31/1954,
Family
Code, Law No. 3/1970, etc.) with the term “child”,
according to the current practice of international conventions and
treaties.
- In
the Romanian legislation, the provisions concerning the age limits in various
domains are the following:
(a) The age of majority. The age of
majority stipulated in Romanian law is 18, coming of that age
providing the person the full
capacity to exert his or her rights. A girl who
is 15 or 16 years of age and gets married acquires the full capacity to exert
her
rights, like any person who has come of age according to the general rule
(see the section on Marriage below);
(b) Legal counselling without
parental consent. Decree No. 31/1954 granted children over 14 a
restricted capacity to exert their
rights, upon the drafting of legal documents
that include a provision saying that they can act “upon prior approval of
their
parents or legal guardians” (art. 9). Children over 14 can
file a complaint with the authorities referring to violation of
their home,
violation of their mail, searching of their home, intercepting of their phone
calls, and arrest. For children who are
under that age, complaints shall be
filed by their parents or legal guardians;
(c) Medical counselling
without the parents’ consent. Children can see any doctor with their
parents’ consent even before
the age of 14. All children have the right
to benefit from free medical assistance and they can go to the medical unit in
the district
where they live (that holds their medical records) or to the
medical ward of the school they attend (if the school is provided with
that
facility). Beginning in 1998, children will be offered medical assistance by
family doctors. If, however, the doctor considers
that other information is
necessary, or in case a child requires surgery, medical ethics require that the
doctor also seek the parents’
consent;
(d) Length of compulsory
schooling. The general length of compulsory schooling is eight grades. The
starting age for primary school
is 7, or 6 upon the request of the child’s
parents or legal guardians, according to article 20, paragraphs 2 and 3, of the
Education Law No. 84/1994. Attendance of the eight-grade system is no
longer compulsory after the age of 16 (Law No. 84/1995, art.
6);
(e) Employment. Article 45 of the Romanian Constitution stipulates
that children under 15 cannot be employed. Between the ages of 15 and 16, the
law recognizes the child’s partial
capacity to work which results in a
restricted capacity to be employed; this can be done only upon prior approval of
the child’s
parents or legal guardians, and only for activities that are
appropriate for the child’s physical development, skills and knowledge.
A
doctor’s advice is another prerequisite for the employment of a child in
this category. Children over 16 can conclude a
labour contract without the
approval of their parents or legal guardians. In this case, children will exert
on their own the rights
and duties deriving from their labour contracts and
will be entitled to dispose of the amounts earned as a result of their work.
The legislation currently in force contains provisions
that grant special
protection to children in their labour conditions (number of working hours,
holidays, etc.), and it contains measures
(including penal ones) that can be
taken when those provisions are violated. For details see chapter VIII,
“Special Protection
Measures”, section C, “Children in
situations of exploitation”;
(f) Marriage. The Family Code
stipulates the following ages when a person can get married: males can be
married only after the
age of 18, while females can be married only
after 16. For well-founded reasons, approval can be granted for a young
female to be
married at the age of 15. The approval can be issued only by the
competent authorities of the county governments (prefecture) and
that of the
municipality of Bucharest, and only based upon a certificate issued by a medical
expert (article 4 of the Family Code).
The law does not require parental
consent for the marriage of their children, not even when the person to be
married is a young
female of 16 or 15. According to the provisions of Decree
No. 31/1954, a child acquires the full capacity to exert his or her rights
by
marriage (art. 8, para. 3). As a consequence, a differentiation by gender
appears both concerning the age when persons can start
a family, and the age
when they acquire the full capacity to exert their rights;
(g) Agreeing
to sexual relations. The legislation in force contains explicit provisions to
the effect that indulging in sexual intercourse
with girls under 14 is to be
punished by law, while in the case of boys there are no provisions to that
effect. For details see
chapter VIII, “Special Protection
Measures”, section C “Children in situations of
exploitation”;
(h) Voluntary enrolment in the army. Voluntary
enrolment in the army is only allowed to persons over 18;
(i) Regular
military service. Young males shall be recruited for regular military service
in the year in which they turn 19. Students
in high schools or other equivalent
schools shall be recruited during their last year of study, even in case
they have not
turned
19 (Law No. 46/1996);
(j) Participation in
combat. In times of war, young males are recruited in the year in which they
turn 18 (Law No. 46/1996, art.
11);
(k) Penal liability. Children under
14 shall not be held liable for penal offences. Children between 14 and 16
shall only be held
liable if they are proved to have committed the offence
wittingly (article 99 in the Penal Code), while children over 16 shall be
held
liable for the offences committed in all circumstances. Children who can be
held liable for their offences can be either submitted
to an educational measure
(reprimand, restricted freedom under the supervision of parents or legal
guardians, enrolment in a re-education
centre or in a medical educational unit)
or to a punishment (imprisonment, the terms being reduced by half, or
fines);
(l) Capital punishment and life sentence. Capital punishment has been
abolished and replaced by life sentence (Decree-Law No. 6/7.01.1990).
According
to the Romanian Constitution, punishment by death is forbidden (art. 22). When
the law stipulates a life sentence for the offence committed, children over 16
shall be sentenced to a term of 5 to 20 years, while children between 14 and 16
shall be submitted to the same sentence, should it
be proved that they have
deliberately and wittingly committed the offence;
(m) Hearings in civil
and penal cases. In civil cases, hearings of children will be conducted in the
presence of their parents or
legal guardians, or, in case they have no legal
guardians, in the presence of a representative of the tutelary authority or
another
representative designated by the court to defend their rights. In penal
cases, it is compulsory for hearings to be conducted in
the presence of an
ex officio or chosen defence council. If the act whose victim was a child
may affect the latter’s image
or privacy, the hearing can be conducted
separately by the members of the court in the Council Room. Statements made by
children
under 14 are considered by the court in penal cases, considering the
concurrent existence of other evidence made available by the
prosecution;
(n) Complaints and requests addressed to judicial or other
authorities without the parents’ consent. Children can file requests
with
other authorities without the prior consent of their parents or legal guardians
after the age of 16. Between the ages of 14
and 16, requests can only be filed
with the prior approval of parents or legal guardians. Considering that girls
under age who achieve
majority by marriage can file complaints and requests
without the approval of another person. The tutelary authority can grant
permission
to a child, upon the latter’s request and after the age of 14,
to switch to a different form of schooling or vocational training
than that
decided for them by their parents, or to choose a home that is appropriate for
the completion of their education or vocational
training. Moreover, upon the
request of children over 14 addressed to the tutelary authority, a court can
amend a previous ruling
concerning the entrusting of a child to a parent. It is
important to underline that one of the main functions of the public authorities
specializing in child protection is to determine what the position of a child
capable of forming his or her opinion is concerning
the protection measure
proposed for him or her, and to make sure that the child is aware what its
situation is de jure and de facto.
At the same time, the law
stipulates that children who are capable of forming their own opinion are
entitled to support and assistance
in exercising their right to free
expression of their opinion (article 27, paragraph 2, points 8 and 9
of Government Decision No.
117/1999). Consequently, any complaint or request
for the free expression of opinion can be addressed by a child who can form his
or her opinion to the child assistance and support services that are organized
and operate within the specialized public services
for child protection (further
details concerning the service are presented under chapter III,
“General Principles”, section
D, “Considering children’s
opinion”);
(o) Consent about a change of identity, change of name,
modification of family relationships, adoption, guardianship. In the case
of
children, the application for changing the name can be filed either by the
parents or, upon approval of the tutelary authority,
by the guardian. If the
parents cannot come to an agreement concerning the name change for the child,
the decision shall be made
by the tutelary authority. In case the child is over
14, the application shall also be signed by him/her. The application for
changing
a child’s family name can be filed together with a similar
application made by the parents or, in well-founded cases, separately.
An
application for changing a child’s given name can be filed at any time.
In case of divorce, the decision to entrust the
child to one of the parents
shall be made by the court, upon hearing the child and considering its best
interest, as well as considering
the recommendation of the tutelary authority.
Children can be heard when they are over 10. In case of adoption, the consent
of
children over 10 shall be sought. Children will acquire by adoption the name
of the adopting parent. Adoptions can be cancelled
upon the request of a child
over 10 or of a commission for child protection, if cancelling the adoption
serves the child’s
best interest. The court shall also rule concerning
the name of the child following the cancelling of the adoption. In case of
the
establishment of guardianship, the child’s consent shall not be sought,
since this is a measure of protection that is taken
in case both parents are
deceased, unknown, have lost parental authority, are placed under interdiction,
have disappeared or have
been declared dead, or when an adoption is dissolved.
All measures of protection shall be taken by the Commission for Child Protection
with the granting of the right to the free expression of their opinion about the
proposed measure to all children who can form their
own
opinion;
(p) Access to information concerning the blood family.
Adoptive parents are under an obligation to inform children about their being
adopted as soon as their age and maturity allow them to do so and to notify the
Commission for Child Protection about the fulfilment
of that
obligation;
(q) The legal capacity to inherit and manage an estate. The
Civil Code stipulates that, in order to become an heir, a person must
be proved
to exist at the time of the settlement of the succession, and for these
purposes, a child is considered to exist upon being
conceived (art. 654).
Article 808 of the Civil Code contains a provision to the effect that a
child conceived at the time of a donation can benefit from
that donation, the
same as a child conceived at the time of the testator’s death can benefit
from the provisions of a will.
For children under 14, the
parents/guardian/Commission for Child Protection have the right and duty to
manage the children’s
estate and to represent them in legal acts.
Children over 14 will exert their rights and duties independently, but only upon
prior
approval of their parents/guardian/Commission for Child Protection. Upon
coming of age at 18 or upon acquiring full capacity to
exert their rights,
children can manage their estate on their own;
(r) Establishing or
joining organizations. Article 3 of Law No. 54/1991 on trade unions also refers
to employed children (over 15).
They are free to participate in the
establishment of a trade union, without any restriction or the prior consent of
their parents
or legal guardians. However, they cannot be elected to the
managing bodies of the unions, except if they have acquired the full
capacity to
exert their rights before the age of 18. Children under 18 cannot participate
in the establishment of political parties,
since they do not have a voting
right. Children over 16 can be enrolled in the youth organization of a
political party without,
however, acquiring the quality of party members (Law
No. 27/1996, art. 6, para. 4). Further details are provided in chapter IV,
“Civil Rights and Freedoms”, section F, “Peaceful association
and assembly”;
(s) Choosing a religion or enrolling in theological
schools. The minimum age for choosing a religion is the starting age of primary
education (Education Law No. 84/1995, art. 9, para. 1, amended by
Emergency Ordinance No. 36/1997). Religion is included among the
subjects in
the curriculum for primary, middle, secondary and vocational education. At that
age, students can opt to study religion
as a subject within a certain
denomination, with the consent of their parents or legal guardians. As far as
theological schools
are concerned, the law grants the denominations that are
officially recognized by the State the right to apply to the Ministry of
National Education for the approval to organize specific forms of education,
according to the training requirements for specific
personnel (article 9,
paragraph 2, of the Education Law No. 84/1995, amended subsequently). The
types of secondary schools stipulated
in the law include theological schools
(article 24, paragraph 1, of Law No. 84/1995). According to Law
No. 15/1996 on the status
and treatment of refugees in Romania, children
are granted the liberty to practise their own religion (art.
15);
(t) Consumption of alcoholic drinks or other substances. The
minimum age for the consumption of alcoholic drinks in public places
is 18. Law
No. 61/1991 on the punishment of offences against social norms and public order
lists the serving of alcoholic drinks
to children among minor offences (art. 2,
point 18);
(u) The relationship between the minimum employment age and
the age for leaving compulsory education. Children over 15 have the
right and
duty to pursue their studies in order to graduate from all the grades in the
compulsory schooling system. Units employing
children over 15 shall be under
the obligation to support them in completing their compulsory
education;
(v) Cases when the criterion of puberty is used in the
interpretation of the Penal Code; differentiated use for girls and boys.
Considering puberty to be the age between 11 and 14, this criterion
involves the single case of differentiated treatment in the case
of
offences concerning sexual relations. In this context, in the case of
heterosexual relations conducted with a boy at the age
of puberty or below that
age, the Penal Code defines the offence in the form of maltreatment applied to a
minor child (an offence
against family life), while sexual relationships
conducted with a female person under 14 is considered to be an offence
concerning
sexual life (sexual relationship with a female minor).
III. GENERAL PRINCIPLES
A. Non-discrimination (art. 2)
Provisions in the Romanian Constitution
- The
equality of rights of all children is based on the universal character of the
fundamental rights and freedoms that the Constitution of Romania guarantees for
all its citizens, irrespective of race, national or ethnic origin, language,
religion, sex, political opinion
or affiliation, property or social origin (art.
4).
- The
principle of non-discrimination is stipulated in the Constitution without a
separate provision being made for children. As far as the reasons for potential
discrimination are concerned, article
4 of the Constitution, unlike
article 2, paragraph 1, in the Convention, fails to refer also to
“colour”.
- The
concept of “birth” is stipulated separately in article 44 of
the Constitution. According to that provision, children born out of wedlock
shall be equal in rights with children born or conceived in wedlock;
however,
the article fails also to refer to adopted children whose rights are regulated
by provisions that will be referred to below.
- As
far as disabled children are concerned, the Constitution stipulates
(art. 46) the obligation of the State to implement a national policy for
the prevention, treatment, reinsertion, education,
training and social
integration of disabled children, while also securing the observance of the
rights and duties reverting to parents
and legal guardians.
- Concerning
the concepts of “national origin” and “language”, the
Constitution stipulates, under article 32, paragraph 3, the right of
children belonging to national minorities to be educated and trained in their
mother tongue.
Other legal provisions
- The
principle of non-discrimination among children is also reflected in other laws,
such as those regulating family relationships
and inheritance, relationships in
international private law, the laws on education, the status of refugees or on
social protection.
- Thus,
according to article 63 of the Family Code, children born out of wedlock
whose consanguinity in lineal descent has been established
by affiliation or by
court ruling, will benefit from the same protection as children born in wedlock,
which means that their situation
is identical to the legal situation of children
born in wedlock. In fact, by passing Law No. 101/1992, Romania has adhered
to the
European Convention on the Legal Status of Children Born Out of Wedlock,
concluded in Strasbourg on 15 October 1975.
- Similarly,
adopted children benefit from the same treatment as children born in wedlock,
and at the moment descent by adoption is
established, the relationship of
descent between the child and his or her natural parents is discontinued. In a
parallel fashion,
parental care presupposes the same rights and duties of
parents towards their children whether they are born in wedlock, out of wedlock
or are adopted (article 97, paragraph 1 of the Family
Code).
- According
to article 8 of Decree No. 31/1954 on natural and legal persons, females
under age acquire the full capacity to exert their
rights when they get married,
as a premise for the equal rights of spouses, irrespective of sex or
age.
- As
far as the right to inheritance in concerned, children have title to inheritance
for the estate of their relatives in the ascending
line, irrespective of sex or
of their coming from one and the same marriage, a previous marriage of one of
the parents (article 669,
Civil Code), their being born out of wedlock but
with an affiliation established under legal conditions (article 63 of the
Family
Code; a definitive court ruling of affiliation can have retroactive
effect to the date of birth, which means that beginning on that
date, a child
has the right to inherit the estate left behind by the person that fathered him
or her out of wedlock), or being adopted
(adopted children acquire the same
rights in relationship to the adopter as a child born in wedlock does in
relationship to his or
her parents, and the rights implicitly include the right
to inherit - article 1 of Emergency Ordinance No. 25/1997).
- The
principle of non-discrimination is also included in the Education Law
No. 84/1995, subsequently amended and completed by Emergency
Ordinance
No. 36/1997, particularly in the articles concerning the rights of national
minorities to be educated and trained in their
mother tongue. Thus,
article 8 of the Education Law stipulates that education at all levels is
provided in the Romanian language
but, in certain legal conditions, it can also
be provided in the languages of national minorities and widely spoken foreign
languages.
This regulation is in the spirit of both the Convention on the
Rights of the Child and the Framework Convention for the Protection
of Minority
Rights concluded in Strasbourg on 1 February 1995 and ratified by
Romania by Law No. 33/1995.
- Equal
access of children to education, irrespective of nationality, is provided by the
equal content of curricula and textbooks drafted
in the mother tongue of
nationalities with those used in classes where Romanian is the teaching
language.
- In
primary education, the history of the Romanians and the geography of Romania are
taught in the mother tongue, according to identical
curricula and textbooks with
those used in classes where Romanian is the teaching language, while in middle
and secondary education,
these subjects can also be taught, upon request, in the
mother tongue, again according to identical curricula and textbooks with
those
used in classes where Romanian is the teaching language, with the requirement
that the students must also transcribe and acquire
Romanian place names and
proper names in the Romanian language (article 120, paragraph 2 of the
Education Law).
- Similarly,
students belonging to national minorities who attend schools where the teaching
language is Romanian can require the school
to include among the subjects taught
the mother tongue and literature in the mother tongue, as well as the history
and traditions
of the national minority they belong to (article 121 of the
Education Law).
- In
specialized vocational, secondary or post-secondary schools, teaching can be
provided, upon request, in the mother tongue, students
being obliged to acquire
the specialized terminology in the Romanian language (art. 122). At all
levels and in all forms of education,
admission and graduation exams can be
taken in the language in which the students studied the subjects to be tested,
according to
the provisions of article 124 of the Education
Law.
- In
the spirit of the same principle of social and geographical non-discrimination
between children in rural and urban areas, children
in primary and middle
schools who cannot benefit from schooling in their home villages or towns shall
be enrolled in schools in other
villages or towns, with the provision, as
required, of transport, catering and boarding facilities (article 17 of the
Education Law).
- Orders
Nos. 3577/1998 and 4562/1998 of the Minister of National Education have
established measures of positive discrimination for
one of the most
disadvantaged groups of children - those belonging to the Roma minority - in
order to support their inclusion in
the education system. Measures also
included the organization of school caravans for nomadic Roma or for those who,
for a variety
of reasons, fail to attend school.
- Special
free education is organized for the protection from discrimination of children
suffering from various physical, mental or
other disabilities. Education for
these children is provided either in special schools or in regular schools, as
well as in schools
where the teaching language is one of the languages of
national minorities (article 41 of the Education Law). Further details can
be found under chapter VII, “Education, Leisure,
Culture”.
- The
mission of preventing and eliminating xenophobic attitudes towards children and
young people belonging to national minorities
is coordinated by the Department
for the Protection of National Minorities, a governmental structure whose
programmes have been focused
on the involvement of minorities in the development
of Romanian civil society. Almost all the programmes of the department have
been financed from the budget allotted to the European Youth Campaign against
Racism, Xenophobia, AntiSemitism and Intolerance, according
to the requirements
involved by these types of attitudes, recommended by the Council of Europe.
Representatives of the Rroma population
have participated, along with other
minorities, in all the programmes organized in the campaign and have organized
their own programmes,
with the support of the National Office for the Rroma
established as part of the abovementioned department. Details concerning
minorities
are included in several chapters of the present
report.
- As
far as foreign citizens are concerned, the principle of non-discrimination is a
principle of public order in Romanian international
private law. In this
context, first, foreign citizens benefit from “national treatment”,
i.e. they benefit from the
civil rights of Romanian citizens, under the
conditions of the law (article 2 of Law No. 105/1992 on the regulation of
relationships
under international private law). Second, following the
connection of the principle of nondiscrimination to the concept of public
order,
if the national law on the child, determined according to the provisions of Law
No. 105/1992, contains discriminatory provisions
concerning certain categories
of children, the Romanian authorities shall not apply the provisions of a
different country’s
law, but shall rather remove that law in favour of
Romanian law. By means of this technical legal procedure, the authorities
secure
the observance of the principle of equal rights for all children, a
measure that comes in the line of the observance of the fundamental
rights
stipulated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
- As
far as refugee status is concerned, article 7 of Law No. 15/1996 on the
status and treatment of refugees in Romania (a law adopted
in order to give
concrete formulation to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of
Refugees and the 1967 Protocol and which Romania
has implemented in the
national legislation by passing Law No. 46/1991) grants children over 14
the right to apply for asylum status
on their own. In the case of children
under 14, the procedures shall be performed by their legal guardian.
Refugee status grants
children access to education in the same way as for
children who are Romanian nationals. Therefore, they can attend primary
education
in the conditions stipulated by the law for Romanian citizens, and
other forms of education in the conditions stipulated for foreign
citizens
(art. 15 (e)). Moreover, Law No. 15/1996 grants children the freedom
to practise their own religion (art. 15 (f)).
- The
principle of non-discrimination shall be observed even in case a measure of
expulsion or return for reasons of national safety
or public order is taken.
The law stipulates that no person can be returned to a territory where his or
her life or freedom would
be jeopardized for reasons of race, religion,
nationality, social background or political opinion (art. 15 (h)).
Children are thus
protected against discrimination or sanctions motivated by
their legal or social status, or the political opinions of their parents
or
legal guardians.
- In
the domain of social protection, Law No. 61/1993 on the State allowance for
children also entitles the children of foreign citizens
or stateless persons
residing in Romania to that allowance (art. 2). According to Law
No. 119/1997 on the supplementary allowance
for families with many
children, the families of foreign citizens or stateless persons residing in
Romania are also entitled to receive
the supplementary allowance. Therefore,
the provisions of article 2 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
are also observed
from the point of view of this type of social protection. The
observance of the same provisions is also involved in the decision
to grant
social aid for families or single persons who are either foreign citizens or
stateless persons residing in Romania (article
2, paragraph 4 of Law
No. 67/1995).
- The
principle of non-discrimination is considered to be fundamental in the Romanian
legislation, and as far as children are concerned,
it is granted priority in the
drafting of all normative acts and in all administrative measures
taken.
B. Best interests of the child (art. 3)
General considerations
- As
also stated in the list of answers to the issues raised by the Committee on the
Rights of the Child upon the examination of Romania’s
initial report on
the implementation of the provisions in the Convention, the Constitution of
Romania, as well as all the legal regulations in the field, reflect the
principle of the priority of the child’s best interest
and grants primary
importance to all actions involving children. The Constitution does not mention
explicitly the abovementioned principle, but - according to article 45,
paragraph 1 - children enjoy “special
protection and assistance in
the fulfilment of their rights”.
- Article 1,
paragraph 5, of the Family Code stipulates that “parental rights
shall only be exerted in the child’s interest”.
In the chapter
referring to the protection of minors, the Family Code also contains a provision
to the effect that parents are entitled
to request the return of their child by
any person holding that child illegally. However, the court will rule against
that request
if “the return runs against the child’s best
interest” (art. 103). Therefore, in order to reject a request for
return, the court must unequivocally establish whether the development and
growth of the child would be jeopardized by his or her
being
returned.
- Law
No. 47/1993 on the legal declaration of child desertion stipulates under
article 6 that the court may decide to reinstate parents
in their rights if
the conditions that led to declaring the desertion have ceased to exist, and
only if “the reinstatement
of those rights is to the child’s best
interest”.
- The
principle of the priority of the child’s best interest can be also
identified in Law No. 21/1991 on Romanian citizenship,
as the
principle is basic in the ruling of the competent court concerning the
citizenship of a child. Thus, a court shall decide
on the citizenship of a
child considering its best interest in case parents fail to agree on the
citizenship of the child (in case
Romanian citizenship is acquired by adoption,
repatriation or upon request).
- The
principle of the priority of the child’s best interest is formulated as
such in Emergency Ordinance No. 25/1997 on adoption,
as well as in
Emergency Ordinance No. 26/1997 on the protection of children in
difficulty. Thus, article 1, paragraph 2 of Emergency
Ordinance
No. 25/1997 stipulates explicitly that adoption can only be made in order
“to protect the child’s best interest”,
while article 7
of Emergency Ordinance No. 26/1997 regulates the measures of protection
that can be taken by the Commission for Child
Protection in order to observe
“the best interest of a child in difficulty”.
- The
same attention is given to this principle by the court in cases of divorce when
entrusting the child to one of the parents, in
case of returning a child from a
person holding it illegally, or in case of adoption. In this context, there are
cases of adoption
where the Supreme Court has maintained the ruling of the first
instance, on account of the fact that the adoption was concluded to
the
child’s best interest and with the explicit mention of article 21 of
the Convention (for instance, Decision No. 595 of
28 February 1991).
- Article 100
of the Penal Code stipulates that correctional or punitive measures can be taken
against minors holding penal liability
for their acts, and severe punishment
shall only be applied if the opinion of the court is that a correctional measure
is insufficient
to correct the minor under consideration. However, in judicial
practice there is an obvious tendency towards the infliction of punishment,
with
the option of a short term, in total disregard of the fact the minors should be
mainly punished in accordance with the specific
nature of their age
group.
- Also
in respect of the principle of the priority of the child’s best interest,
private bodies working in the domain of child
protection shall be established
upon obtaining an expert opinion from the Department for Child Protection. The
bodies under consideration
shall be allowed to operate under the authorization
of the Commission for Child Protection, the authorization of the Romanian
Committee
for Adoption being required in adoption matters. The activity of
these organizations shall be revised on an annual basis, and authorization
can
be withdrawn in case they fail to observe this fundamental principle in their
work.
- Government
Decision No. 177/1999 stipulates the tasks of the public services
specialized in child protection that are meant to provide
children in difficulty
with the protection and care necessary for their welfare, considering the rights
and obligations their parents
or legal guardians hold for them. The relevant
tasks stipulated under article 27, paragraph 2 of these organizations
are:
(a) To identify children in difficulty on the territory of
the county or, as the case may be, of the district in Bucharest where
it
operates and to elaborate measures for their protection;
(b) To grant
assistance and support to families or persons who have received children for
placement or care, in order to secure their
harmonious development;
(c) To
grant assistance and support to the parents of children in difficulty in order
to prepare the children’s return to the
family environment;
(d) To
supervise the families and persons who have children in care or placement all
through the duration of that arrangement, as
well as the parents of children in
difficulty after the latter’s return to the family
environment;
(e) To grant assistance and support in case of emergency to
the parents of the child, checking whether they can assume responsibilities
and
assume obligations about the child, so as to prevent situations that may
endanger the security and development of the child;
for that purpose, the
specialized public service for child protection organizes and operates maternal
care centres, daycare centres,
parent counselling and support centres, services
for monitoring, assistance and support of expectant mothers predisposed towards
abandoning their children, daycare and recovery centres for disabled
children;
(f) To evaluate the material conditions and moral guarantees
presented by the families or persons who may be potential adopters and
to make
suggestions to the Commission for Child Protection on the issuing of a document
certifying that a family or person is capable
of adopting
children;
(g) To supervise the families or persons holding children in
care in the perspective of adoption over the whole duration of the period
stipulated by law;
(h) To monitor the evolution of children adopted in
the county or the Bucharest district they are competent for, as well as the
evolution
of their relationships with their adoptive parents for at least
two years following the approval of the adoptions they supported;
to grant
support to the child’s adoptive parents in fulfilling their obligation to
inform the child about his being adopted,
as soon as the age and maturity of the
child make that possible;
(i) To provide assistance and support to the
persons entrusted to the public service specialized in child protection in
acquiring
full capacity to exert their rights in case they continue their
studies, but no later than the age of 26; for that purpose, to grant
specialized
assistance as well as support in completing their studies and towards social
integration to those persons;
(j) To take the necessary measures for
protecting children in difficulty in situations of emergency, which includes
finding a proper
placement for the children in emergency procedures; for that
purpose, the public service specialized in child protection organizes
and
operates child reception centres, as well as assistance and support centres for
the psychological readjustment of children suffering
from psychosocial
disorders;
(k) To provide care and support to children who have
committed one of the offences stipulated in the penal law and are placed in
specially designated spaces in an emergency procedure, before their legal
situation is clarified; to grant legal and specialized
assistance to these
children;
(l) To check the manner in which the rights of children in difficulty are
observed within their natural, substitute or adoptive families,
in placement
centres or in other centres organized for providing protection to children in
difficulty, to delinquent children, or
for preventing situations that may
endanger the security and development of the child and to take measures to
prevent or remove any
form of abuse;
(m) To check the activity of the
private bodies authorized to conduct activities in the domain of protection of
children in difficulty
that are operating on the territory of the unit or, as
the case may be, of the administrative-territorial unit they belong to, by
means
of the specialized personnel authorized by the Commission.
- In
order to ensure the fulfilment of the above tasks, Government Decision
No. 117/1999 also includes provisions that support the activity
of the
public service specialized in child protection, in the sense that it gives legal
force to the obligation of public institutions
and other legal and natural
persons to make available all the documents they hold and to allow access of the
personnel of the specialized
public service into their headquarters or homes (to
the extent that is deemed to be necessary in order to fulfil those tasks -
article
27, paragraph 4).
- Similarly,
the specialized services working as part of the local council services in the
county/district where the public service
specialized in child protection or
other bodies working in the field of tutelary authority and the protection of
the rights of the
child that are subordinated to the former operate are under
the obligation to grant to the public service specialized in child protection
the support it needs to fulfil the obligations reverting to that service
(art. 28, para. 1). In case these bodies refuse to fulfil
the
abovementioned obligations, the Commission for Child Protection may address the
mayor and have the measures required for fulfilling
those obligations imposed by
mayoral decision (art. 28, para. 2).
Actions for monitoring the implementation of legal
provisions in the spirit of the observance of the principle of the priority of
the child’s best interest
- By
virtue of the provisions under article 1, paragraph 1, and under
article 3, paragraph 1 (b), (c) and (i) of Emergency Ordinance
No. 34/1998 on the reorganization of the Department for Child Protection, a
national monitoring methodology was established for the
activities aimed at
protecting children in difficulty, performed by the authorities of the local
public administration.
- The
monitoring system includes three basic elements:
(a) Monitoring
the organization, operation and activities of the commissions for child
protection;
(b) Monitoring the organization, operation and activities
performed by the public services specialized in the protection of the rights
of
the child;
(c) Monitoring the situation of children in
difficulty.
- The
information is forwarded on a quarterly basis to the Department for Child
Protection by the Chairman of the Commission for Child
Protection (first item
mentioned above) or by the General Director of the public service specialized in
child protection (second
and third items mentioned above). The information is
centralized and a synthesis is drafted by the Directorate for the Protection
of
the Rights of the Child within the Department for Child Protection that is
responsible for the evaluation and coordination at
the national level of the
activities to protect children in difficulty performed by the authorities of the
local public administration.
Following the analysis and processing of this
information, the Department for Child Protection is in a position to draft
studies
and synthetic reports on reform in the domain of child protection,
outlining problems and the progress made, in the perspective of
improving the
newly established system for the protection of children in
difficulty.
- Between
1 January and 15 May 1997, the prosecutors in the General
Prosecutor’s Office within the Supreme Court of Justice performed
262
checks on the manner in which the rights and interests of children in
residential care, children’s homes, centres for minors,
hospital homes,
homes for disabled children and paediatric wards were observed in accordance
with the provisions of article 31 H
of Law No. 92/1992 on
judicial organization. Several violations were identified during these actions,
as listed below:
(a) Admission to/release from residential care
units was performed in the absence of decisions issued by the Commission for
Child
Protection, which was a violation of the provisions of articles 5, 15
and 16 of Law No. 3/1970 (now abrogated). The children under
consideration
did benefit from the treatment usually applied to institutionalized children,
without the statutory decisions having
been issued either upon admission or
release. These children should have been sent to the reception centres where
they would have
been assisted until the issuing of the legal
decisions;
(b) Birth certificates or delayed birth records, as well as
social investigation reports, were missing from some files of institutionalized
children. In some files, social investigation reports were incomplete or
outdated, which prevented an accurate assessment and identification
of the
situation of children in residential care that would have allowed the competent
authorities to instate, maintain or discontinue
their
institutionalization;
(c) Some social or medical care units violated the
provisions of article 2 of Law No. 47/1993 by failing to require
the drafting
of a legal statement on child desertion in the circumstances where
the parents did not manifest any interest in their children for
longer than
six months. This situation was also generated by the fact that residential
care institutions failed to keep accurate
records of the parents’ visits
and actions, which could have been useful in characterizing the parents’
behaviour towards
their institutionalized children. The explanations offered by
the managing boards of residential care units, according to which
the natural
parents of these children were unaware of the legal provisions in force but did
visit their children at various intervals,
could not exonerate the institutions
under consideration from the obligation to require the drafting of a legal
statement on child
desertion;
(d) In some social or medical care units
inappropriate conditions were identified as far as lodging, catering,
sanitation, medical
assistance and schooling conditions were
concerned;
(e) There have been cases where the type of care and the
institution designated to fulfil that purpose were not appropriate for the
age
group or the physical and mental health of the children, which is a violation of
article 5 of Law No. 3/1970.
- The
cases of violation of legal norms subsequently became the object of
147 notifications sent by the prosecutor’s offices to
the
institutions that had been checked or to their supervisory
bodies.
- Upon
reaching the conclusion that care or supervision measures were required,
in 255 cases the prosecutors notified a tutelary authority,
a
commission for child protection, or a school or medical unit about the
situation, as appropriate. Consequently, several children
were released and
returned to their families, after their parents had been identified and
contacted. In cooperation with the police
authorities, measures were taken to
investigate and clarify the situation of children who had escaped from
residential care units
or who had been released without a legal decision to that
effect, at the mere verbal request of persons pretending to be their
relatives.
Initiatives to secure adequate standards for the principle
of the priority of the child’s
best interest in placement
centres
- The
new legislation promoted by the Department of Child Protection, implemented with
the support of the public services specialized
in the protection of the rights
of the child, which is also responsible for the activity of the placement
centres, shall be further
consolidated by the drafting of methodological guides
concerning a modified approach to the problems of children in their care, in
order to consolidate a model based on the principle of the priority of the
child’s best interest. For that purpose the new
legislation aims mainly
at changing the principles that lie at the foundation of placement centres by
orienting them with priority
towards the observance of children’s rights.
Below is a list of principles included in the provisions of the new legal
framework
concerning the protection of children in
difficulty:
(a) The rights of every child to be
recognized, respected and protected. Based on an analysis of the special needs
of children in
difficulty, this principle refers to the drafting of the new
institutional project, the organization of space and activities, as
well as the
promotion of a new manner of intervention in favour of children, in order to
ensure the observance and fulfilment of
children’s rights as stipulated in
the Convention;
(b) The development of children in placement centres
should follow as closely as possible a family environment. The new model for
placement centres should be designed in such a way that the organization of the
activities performed by groups of resident children
and the staff of the centres
should allow the implementation of individualized protection plans for each and
every child, in which
the requirements of providing a secure environment and for
the psychological and emotional needs of the children are harmonized with
opening up of these institutions towards society at large. The value of the
care and development system provided for children in
a placement centre is
expressed in two types of complementary projects: the institutional project and
the individualized protection
plan for a child. The institutional project
develops the overall organizational framework and formulates the mission of the
placement
centre; it defines inner and outer functional relationships within the
complex of services directed towards the protection of the
child; it proposes
specific activities; it defines the (material, human and financial) resources
available and their utilization;
it expresses the possible ways of evaluating
activities. The individualized protection plans represent a formalized
presentation
of the actions and means applied for each child as a unique and
complex subject, with his or her own identity and history, in order
to provide
the proper care and education that secure the child’s development and
(re)integration into the family, as part of
the institutional
project;
(c) The protection provided in placement centres is
temporary in character: the individual protection project for each child
provides
solutions for his or her (re)integration into the family as early as
possible. The principle of shortening as much as possible the
duration of
institutionalization is a fundamental principle for placement centres. Its
implementation involves the building up of
mechanisms:
− to develop relationship with the family (if possible, the extended
family);
− to prepare and apply alternatives for care in substitute families
(maternal assistant or adoptive family), in tight connection
with the other
services aimed at child protection;
− to diversify the services offered by the public service specialized in
child protection (for instance the gradual shifting
of focus from care to
prevention services) and, in the process, to effect the professional
reconversion of the staff working in placement
centres;
(d) The activities performed in placement centres
are open to society: by their organization and operation and by the
relationship
they promote, placement centres become a service integrated in the
community. By definition, placement centres are part of a countylevel
service
system for child protection provided by the public service specialized in child
protection, being a community service, known
and supported by the community.
For actually opening up to society, the following requirements need to be
fulfilled:
(i) At the level of the institutional project: to design and apply
communication strategies, strategies to promote the image of
the centre, as well
as to involve community structures (individuals, schools, the church, etc.) as
partners in implementing the institutional
project - activities coordinated by
the specialized public service in child protection;
(ii) At the level of the individualized child protection plan: to integrate
children into social life in a manner similar to other
children in the same age
group, to support the child’s direct participation in activities within
the community (isolated or
permanent activities);
(e) The
staff of the placement centre is part of the team of the public service
specialized in child protection and it is integrated
in the system of human
resources involved in implementing the countylevel strategy for child
protection. The actual implementation
of the new manner of providing protection
to children in difficulty presupposes the involvement of the staff that comes in
direct
contact with children in all the activities in a responsible, conscious
and motivating spirit. The reorganization of the institutions
will involve
modifications in their statutes, overcoming difficulties in communication, and
understanding and assimilation of change
by the staff directly involved. The
main step to be taken should be the integration of the staff in placement
centres in the team
working for the directorates for the protection of the
rights of the child. But integration should not only be on paper (that is
in
personnel records, payment rosters, etc.), but real, by:
(i) The inclusion in the management of human resources at directorate level of
the resources in the former institutions, in the perspective
of recognizing and
turning to good account the professional experience accumulated, and of actually
involving staff in the implementation
of reform;
(ii) Consulting, informing and training all categories of personnel in
connection with the manner of restructuring institutions on
constructive bases,
starting from the principles for implementing reform in the child protection
system.
This ample process of restructuring of residential
care units presupposes the mobilization of significant financial resources. But
even where these resources are identified, they cannot be put to good use if the
professionals working in the Directorate for Child
Protection and in the
institutions fail to be motivated and involved in the work towards reaching a
common goal;
(f) The gradual reduction of the number of protected
children in placement centres shall be done in parallel with the gradual
diversification
of services aimed at child protection, which involves a flexible
institutional project, as well as the permanent information and
professional
training of the staff. A thorough knowledge of the local context of the
specific problems in the domain of child protection
will be the basis for
designing the system of services offered by the Directorate for Child Protection
to respond to local needs.
It is essential that the organization and operation
of the new services should create an integrated system at county level, meant
to
grant protection to children in difficulty and to prepare their reintegration
into the family and society, as well as to prevent
situations that may
jeopardize the security and development of the children. Placement centres
shall be conceived and organized
as functional components integrated into the
system, so as to secure:
− the complementarity of the activities and of their
functions;
− clear and functional relationships across services;
− the mobility of human resources, which should be prepared to work in
various components of the system;
− communication.
- The
diversification of services offered by the Directorates for Child Protection
represents a guarantee of the capacity of the public
service specialized in
offering an adequate framework for the protection of children in difficulty in
full accordance with its needs.
- The
overall activities performed within the new Directorates for the Protection of
the Rights of the Child, based on the implementation
of the legal framework that
has recently entered into force, are mainly aimed at following up on a number of
directions, listed below,
in order to promote a model that places care for
children and concern for promoting their rights at the centre of all
activities:
(a) The definition of a clear methodology for the
admission of children in placement centres (admission criteria, documents
necessary
for accurate assessment of each child’s individual situation).
Emergency Ordinance No. 26/1997 stipulates explicitly that,
in order to find
solutions for individual cases, the expert working for the public service
dealing with the case is under the obligation
to file a report on the
psycho-social investigation performed with the Commission for Child Protection.
The report shall include
data on the personality and physical and mental
condition of the child, his or her track record, the conditions under which he
was
raised, any other data referring to his upbringing and education that may be
useful for the Commission in finding an adequate solution
for the case,
suggestions for the protection measures to be applied, as well as the
child’s position concerning the measures
proposed;
(b) The
introduction of a system for the compulsory periodic review of the
placement/protection measures taken, with an obligatory
revocation or
replacement of those measures in case the circumstances that have determined
them have changed and no longer match
the real needs of the child (article 21,
paragraphs 1 and 2, Emergency Ordinance No. 26/1997);
(c) The
provision by the specialized public services of special spaces organized inside
or outside placement centres, as well as
of the means necessary for the
personal, unmediated contact of the children with their parents, if possible,
according to regulations
in force (article 20 (e)) of Emergency Ordinance No.
26/1997). This is meant to respond to the parents’ need to be in
permanent
unmediated contact with their children for the whole duration of the
placement; they have the right to visit their children as well
as to exchange
letters with them, according to legal provisions (article 13, paragraph 3 of
Emergency Ordinance No. 26/1997);
(d) As a complement to the
previous point, placement centres shall keep accurate records of the
parents’ visits or other signs
of interest towards their children in
residential care, so that the process of legal declaration of desertion can be
initiated at
the moment stipulated by the law, and the data on record should be
usable as evidence in support of the parents’ lack of interest
for their
child.
C. Right to life, survival and development (art. 6)
- The
fundamental right of any person, including any child, to life and integrity, is
guaranteed by the Constitution.
- The
death penalty was abolished in Romania and replaced with life imprisonment by
Decree-Law No. 6 of 7 January, 1990 on the abolition
of the death penalty, the
amendment of certain provisions in the Penal Code and other normative
acts.
- Decree
No. 31/1954 on natural and legal persons stipulates that the rights of the child
are recognized from the moment of conception,
provided it is born alive (art. 7,
para. 2), the principle being known as infans conceptus pro nato habetur
quotiens de commodis eius agitur. The legal time of conception is placed
between the 300th and the 180th day before birth (article 61 of the
Family Code).
- The
provisions of Emergency Ordinance No. 26/1997 have introduced a previously
nonexistent possibility concerning the securing of
a child’s right to
life, survival and development: rapid intervention and removal of the child
from its natural family in
case of abusive exercise of parental rights or
serious failure to fulfil parental duties.
- A
child’s right to life is also guaranteed by the inclusion in the Penal
Code of the crime of manslaughter (art. 174), wilful
murder (art. 175) and
violent murder (art. 176). According to article 175 (b), any murder committed
while taking advantage of the
victim’s incapacity to protect him/herself
constitutes an aggravating circumstance and this provision is also applicable to
the murder of a child.
- By
characterizing the murder of an expectant mother a case of violent murder
(art. 176 (e)), the law protects both the life of the
woman and of the
unborn child. The life of an unborn child is also protected by including
among criminal offences procured abortion
if it is performed in the
following circumstances: outside medical institutions or medical units
authorized for the purpose; by
a person who is not a specialist; beyond the
fourteenth week of pregnancy or without the prior consent of the expectant woman
(art.
185). Similarly, article 182 of the Penal Code also sanctions criminal
offences that imply damaging the bodily integrity or health
of a woman, that
also results in miscarriage; the life of an unborn child is therefore protected
under this article as well.
- In
order to support parents in creating an environment that is favourable to the
harmonious development of a child, Romanian legislation
contains a provision on
the granting of paid leave for attending to children up to the age of 2. Thus,
Law No. 120/1997 on the
paid leave for attending to children up to the age of 2
stipulates that right, which can be exerted by either of the parents (art.
6).
- The
promotion of the right stipulated under article 6 of the Convention on the
Rights of the Child was the basis for including among
the functions of the
public services specialized in child protection of the right of the
children’s parents to benefit from
assistance and support. Parents are
monitored in their fulfilment of parental duties, so that situations that may
jeopardize the
child’s security and development can be prevented (article
27, paragraph 21 of Government Decision No. 117/1999). In order
to serve that
purpose, the decentralized public services for child protection have organized
the monitoring, assistance and support
service for pregnant women predisposed to
abandon their child. The service monitors expectant mothers for the whole
duration of
their pregnancy, in order to identify mothers potentially exposed to
risk and to facilitate early intervention (by counselling, support,
parental
guidance, etc.) to prevent desertion and institutionalization of the
child.
- In
cases of suicide, the Penal Code includes among criminal offences the inducement
or facilitation of suicide, listing among the
aggravating circumstances the
perpetration of this crime against a child, the punishment being a term of
imprisonment for 3-10 years
(art. 179, para. 2).
- This
subject is further dealt with in chapters VI and IV.
D. Respect for the views of the child (art. 12)
- Freedom
of expression is stipulated under article 29 of the Romanian Constitution
without, however, explicit reference being made to children. Article 12 of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child stipulates
a child’s right to
express his or her views freely and to have his/her views considered in all
matters affecting the child.
The Convention uses the notion of a child
“capable of forming his or her own views”. This notion, associated
with the
age of the child, appears as an expression of the individual’s
capacity to actually represent his/her own actions, the consequences
of a
damaging act, as well as to withstand the sanctioning intervention of society
against him/her.
- The
law stipulates that, over the age of 14, a child’s capacity to form an
opinion has positive value. According to article
9 of Decree No. 31/1954 on
natural and legal persons, children over 14 benefit from a limited freedom to
exert their rights. In
establishing the citizenship of a child over 14, that
child’s consent needs to be sought, according to the provisions of Law
No.
21/1991.
- The
court is under the obligation to hear children over 10 when ruling on the
custody of the child after divorce (article 42 of the
Family Code). Moreover,
when deciding on the future residence of the child with one of the parents after
the divorce (article 100,
Family Code), or when deciding on the return of a
child by a person holding it illegally, the court shall be under the obligation
to hear all children over 10.
- In
case of adoption, the consent of children over 10 shall be sought as a basic
condition for the validation of the adoption (article
7 of Emergency Ordinance
No. 25/1997 on adoption). The child’s expressed option is compulsory for
the court, which cannot
exert censorship on the child’s refusal to consent
to the adoption. Moreover, adoption can be cancelled upon the request of
a
child over 10 if that act were to serve the child’s best interest (article
22, paragraph 2, Emergency Ordinance No. 25/1997).
- Another
situation where the opinion of a child capable of forming his or her opinion
needs to be sought is stipulated in Emergency
Ordinance No. 26/1997 on the
protection of children in difficulty, as well as in Government Decision No.
117/1999. In that context,
the public service specialized in child protection
or the authorized private organization that has been given custody of a child
for care or placement shall provide an adequate family environment for that
child. In order to serve that purpose, the above-mentioned
institutions shall
be under the obligation to find out and consider the opinion of a child capable
of forming an opinion about the
family or person proposed to receive that child
for care, as well as to make that opinion known to the Commission for Child
Protection.
This shall be done in a report drafted as part of the
psycho-social investigation conducted, the presentation of such report being
compulsory in resolving the case. The report shall necessarily include the
child’s position on the measure proposed (determining
the position of a
child capable of forming an opinion on the measure proposed, while also ensuring
that the child is in full knowledge
of the de jure and de facto situation he or
she is in, is one of the tasks reverting to the public service specialized in
child protection).
- Another
task of the public service specialized in child protection is the granting of
assistance and support to a child capable of
forming an opinion in exerting his
or her right to the free expression of an opinion. For that purpose, the
Department for Child
Protection proposes and supports the development of a
community assistance service for children in support of their exercise of
the
right to the free expression of their opinions. This multidisciplinary
counselling service shall offer children with the capacity
of forming an opinion
the right to freely express their opinion and to have their opinions considered
in all matters or procedures
affecting them; it is a service whose structure
includes a counselling centre, a mobile team and a hotline, all of which promote
the provisions of article 12 of the Convention.
- The
activities performed by this type of service are the
following:
(a) Providing the child with any pertinent
information referring to his or her individualized protection project, as well
as the
manner in which that project is to be
implemented;
(b) Determining the child’s reaction (mental,
emotional, verbal response, etc.) with regard to the information mentioned under
the previous item;
(c) Offering explanations to the child about the
possible consequences of the implementation of his or her opinions, as well as
of
the proposed project;
(d) participating in the decision-making
process referring to the individualized protection project of the child, while
also considering
the conclusions derived from the activities mentioned under the
previous items.
- Moreover,
the Department for Child Protection has also assumed, as part of the government
programme, the task of taking the action
necessary to prepare the signing and
ratification of the European Convention on the Exercise of Children’s
Rights, with a view
to harmonizing the provisions of domestic legislation with
the principles and norms contained in the international instrument, including
the promotion of the implementation of the principle of taking the opinion of
the child into account.
- The
Family Code does stipulate the right of children over 14 to opt for a certain
type of education or vocational training, as well
as the right of children over
16 to conclude a labour contract without the consent of their parents or legal
guardians (Family Code,
article 102, Decree No. 31/1954). As far as the
education and affiliation to a denomination of children in residential care is
concerned,
they can only be modified upon approval of the Commission for Child
Protection; the consent of children over 14 shall also be
sought.
- Although
the legislation in force also stipulates the inclusion of one or two students in
the membership of the managing boards of
high schools and vocational schools
(according to article 145, paragraph 5 of the Education Law No. 84/1995),
their participation
and ability to influence decisions affecting them is rather
void as long as the total membership is 5-11 persons, all the rest being
adults
(teaching staff and other persons).
- However,
there are an increasing number of cases where children can perform a number of
activities in schools that are initiated and
carried out by them alone or with
the support of professionals where they express their views on the surrounding
world. There have
been reports about children who have painted the walls of the
classrooms in the schools they attend in the manner they found appropriate
for
providing an atmosphere suitable for their age, and about children who have
started a school magazine where they debated the
problems they were confronted
with, in which they reported on their achievements and published their own
creations (drawings, poems,
etc.).
- Moreover,
according to the data provided by the Ministry of National Education,
the 40 secondary schools around the country - most
of them enjoying
the status of “national colleges” - have been equipped by the
Foundation for an Open Society with PC
labs; they have their own local radio
stations for the students and their own publications published in Romanian, the
languages of
the minorities and widely spoken foreign
languages.
- There
have also been reports about initiatives of non-governmental organizations
involving children in a variety of civic activities.
The Master Forum
Association, for instance, initiated the Pal-Tin Programme, whose aim was to
familiarize children and young people
with participation in the life of the
local public administration. Local councils were formed with children and young
people as
mayors and councillors in several towns and cities around the country.
Non-governmental organizations have also started a hotline
for children and
young people that they can call to discuss the problems they are confronted with
or find out more information about
topics they are interested
in.
IV. CIVIL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS
A. Name and nationality (art. 7)
- According
to the provisions of article 12 of Decree No. 31/30.01.1954 on natural and legal
persons, any person is entitled to bear
a name established or acquired according
to the law; a name includes a family name and a given name. The manner in which
the documents
concerning civil status are to be drafted is regulated by Law No.
119/1996 on documents concerning civil status. In that context,
birth
certificates shall be issued by the local public administration competent for
the administrative-territorial unit where the
child was born, upon one of the
parents declaring the child’s birth. If, for some reason or other, the
parents are unable
to declare the birth of their child, that obligation reverts
to the doctor, the persons witnessing the birth or the staff working
in the unit
where the child was born, to the relatives or neighbours who have taken
knowledge of the birth.
- If
in registering the birth of a child born out of wedlock, the father acknowledges
paternity, the data concerning the father shall
be entered under the relevant
columns in the birth certificate to be issued.
- The
child’s family name and given name shall be chosen by the parents, with
the observance of legal provisions, as follows:
(a) A child
born in wedlock shall bear the common family name of the parents; should the
parents fail to hold a common family name,
the child will bear the family name
of only one of them or their joint family names (article 62 of the Family
Code);
(b) A child born out of wedlock will bear the family name of the
parent whose affiliation has been determined first; in the event
that the
affiliation has been subsequently determined for the other parent as well, the
competent court may decide in favour of the
child bearing the latter’s
name (article 64 of the Family Code).
- Should
the parents not have a common family name, or should there be any discrepancy
between the child’s given name recorded
in the medical birth certificate
and the declarant’s verbal declaration, the birth certificate will be
issued in accordance
with a written declaration to be signed by both parents,
which should state the family as well as the given name of the child. Should
there be any disagreements between the parents, the local public administration
authority of the place where the birth has been declared
will decide by means of
a written order. The law enables the registrar of births, marriages and deaths
to reject the registration
of given names made up of indecent or ridiculous
words, at the same time giving the parents the opportunity to choose an
appropriate
name for their child.
- The
same law regarding the civil status documents includes special provisions for
the issuance of the birth certificate of a child
who has been abandoned by
his/her mother or found in hospital, thereby guaranteeing the right of such a
child to bear a name. According
to article 22, paragraph 1, the birth
certificate of a child who has been found will be issued within 30 days from the
date of the
event, by the local public administration authority in the
administrative territory in which the child was found, based on a report
submitted by the police, the doctor and the representative of the local public
administration authority. The person who found the
child will notify the police
within 24 hours and will deliver the child, with all accompanying objects and
documents.
- For
a child abandoned in a hospital, article 23 stipulates that the person in charge
of the hospital management should notify the
police within 24 hours from the
moment this fact has been ascertained. In addition, according to article 23,
paragraph 2, should
the authorities fail to determine the mother’s
identity within 30 days, the birth certificate will be issued based on the
medical
birth statement and on the report by the police, the medical unit
director and the representative of the local public administration
authority,
the last also being responsible for the registration of the
birth.
- Cases
of childbirth aboard a ship or aircraft or in any other means of transportation
are also considered by the legal provisions
in force, namely Law No. 119/1996,
such that the birth of no child (including those belonging to nomadic groups)
will fail to be
registered. The release of the child’s birth certificate
by the relevant authorities will be a precondition for the child’s
Christian baptism, since the person requesting this religious ritual will have
to present the certificate to the priest.
- According
to the provisions of article 4 of Law No. 21/199, the child may obtain the right
to Romanian citizenship by birth, by adoption,
by repatriation or upon request,
as follows:
(a) By reason of birth: all children born on
Romanian territory or abroad will be Romanian, if both parents are or only one
of them
is a Romanian citizen. A child who has been found on Romanian territory
will be declared a Romanian citizen if neither of the parents
is
known;
(b) By reason of adoption: Romanian citizenship will be obtained
by a child holding foreign citizenship or no citizenship whatsoever
by means of
adoption, if the adopters are Romanian citizens and the adopted child has not
yet turned 18 years of age. In the event
that only one of the adoptive parents
is a Romanian citizen, the minor’s citizenship will be decided upon by
mutual agreement
by the adopters;
(c) By reason of repatriation:
parents undergoing repatriation will decide upon the citizenship to be taken by
their minor children;
(d) Granting citizenship upon request: the child
who has been born of parents who are foreign citizens or hold no citizenship
whatsoever,
and who has not yet turned 18, will be granted Romanian citizenship
once with his parents. In the event that only one of the parents
is granted
Romanian citizenship, the parents will decide by mutual agreement upon the
child’s citizenship.
- Foreign
citizens who are based or temporarily reside in Romania may request that their
civil status documents and acts be registered
under the same terms as those of
Romanian citizens. Persons holding no citizenship will request the registration
of their civil
status documents and acts by the relevant local public
administration authorities.
B. Preservation of personal identity (art. 8)
- The
child’s right to maintain personal relations and direct contact with
his/her family is encouraged by the legal provisions
in force whenever, for any
reason, the child is separated from his/her parents. On the other hand, the
same right is subject to
certain restrictions imposed by the provisions of
Emergency Ordinance 26/1997 regarding the protection of the child in need, as
follows:
considering with priority the child’s best interest, the latter
may be separated from his/her original family and entrusted
to another family,
person or specialized public child protection service whenever the parents
abusively exert their rights or severely
neglect their parental obligations.
Details related to this aspect are included in chapter V, “Family
Environment and Alternative
Care”.
- A
child’s name may be changed, at the parents’/legal guardian’s
or representative’s request, for well-motivated
reasons, in the event that
the child has not come of age (18 years old). It is, however, necessary that
the request be signed by
a child who has turned 14. For 10year-olds, the
child’s consent is a prerequisite in adoptions that involve changes of
identity
for the child.
- Article
6 of the Constitution of Romania stipulates that “the State recognizes and
guarantees the right to maintain, develop and express the ethnic, cultural,
linguistic and religious identity of all persons belonging to the national
minorities. The protection measures to be taken by the
State in maintaining,
developing and expressing the identity of the persons belonging to the national
minorities should observe the
principles of equality and non-indiscrimination in
relation to the other Romanian citizens”.
- Perceived
as a constituent part of a person’s identity, citizenship may not be
withdrawn from any person who has obtained it
by birth (article 6 of the
Constitution of Romania). The manner of obtaining Romanian citizenship has been
explained above.
- The
rights stipulated in article 8 of the Convention may be altered by changes in a
child’s paternity. According to article
53 of the Family Code, the father
of a child born in wedlock will be the mother’s husband. The father of a
child born after
a divorce has been pronounced or a marriage declared null or
otherwise dissolved is the mother’s former husband, if the child
has been
conceived during the marriage and the birth has occurred before the mother has
married again.
- Paternity
may be disclaimed, should it be impossible for the mother’s husband to be
the father of the child; the legal action
of disclaiming paternity may only be
initiated by the husband. The legal action of determining paternity out of
wedlock is considered
to belong to the child and it is initiated on his or her
behalf by the child’s mother, even if she is under age, or by his/her
legal representative, within one year of the child’s
birth.
- Changes
in a child’s paternity may also occur subsequent to the father’s
recognition of his child conceived and born out
of wedlock. Acknowledging
paternity may be made official by means of a declaration to be submitted to the
registrar of births, marriages
and deaths, either at the moment of registration
of the birth or afterwards, by authenticated letter or
testament.
C. Freedom of expression (art. 13)
- Freedom
to express one’s opinions is a constitutional right in Romania, applicable
to all citizens, irrespective of age, and
only subject to certain legal
restrictions which are deemed necessary in any democratic State. Thus, article
30, paragraph 6, of
the Constitution of Romania stipulates that it is
unacceptable that the freedom of expression should prejudice the dignity,
honour, private life or
right to personal image of any natural person. Also,
articles 6 and 7 prohibit any acts of denigration of one’s country or
nation, any incitement to acts of aggression or war, to national, racial, social
or religious hatred, to discrimination, to territorial
separatism or public
violence, as well as any obscene manifestations defying good morals and
manners.
- The
major restrictions to the freedom of expression are listed
below:
(a) In accordance with article 205 of the Penal Code,
any offence made to a person’s honour or reputation by verbal remarks,
gestures or any other means, or by exposing that person to mockery, will be
punished by one month to two years imprisonment or by
a fine. Slander will also
be considered an offence and a violation of personal dignity (art. 206, Penal
Code), punishable by three
months’ to three years’ imprisonment or a
fine;
(b) Denigration of one’s country or nation, as well as
incitement to public disorder represent offences to public authority
and will be
punished by six months’ to three years’ imprisonment (art. 236,
Penal Code) and by three months’ to
three years’ imprisonment,
respectively (art. 324, Penal Code);
(c) Nationalistic and chauvinistic
propaganda and incitement to racist and nationalistic hatred constitute an
offence to socially
peaceful relations and will be punished by six months’
to five years’ imprisonment;
(d) The same offence mentioned above
include the obstruction of the freedom of religious groups, which may be
punished by one to
six months’ imprisonment or by fine;
(e) The
distribution of obscene materials, i.e. the sale, distribution and
manufacturing, or keeping with a view to the distribution
of objects, drawings,
printed documents or any other obscene materials is included in the category of
offences to socially peaceful
relations and constitutes an indecent assault on
good morals and a violation of public order, and will be punished by three
months’
to two years’ imprisonment or by a fine.
- More
and more frequently, the national radio-television as well as private radio or
TV stations are inviting children and young persons,
either alone or with
adults, to host special broadcasts devoted to this social category, thus
offering them the opportunity to express
opinions related to their interests or
concerns.
D. Freedom of thought, conscience and religion (art.
14)
- Article
29 of the Constitution of Romania stipulates that freedom of thought and
opinion, as well as religious freedom, may not in any event be restricted. No
person will be constrained to adopt a certain opinion or adhere to a particular
religion which runs counter to his or her convictions
and
beliefs.
- The
Constitution also guarantees freedom of conscience, which must manifest itself
in the spirit of tolerance and mutual respect. Religious denominations
are free
and may be organized according to their own statutes, with the strict observance
of the legal provisions in force. Any
forms, means, acts or manifestations of
religious hatred among religious denominations are prohibited. Religious
denominations are
autonomous in relation to the State and benefit from the
State’s full assistance, including support for facilitating religious
assistance within military units, hospitals, detention facilities, asylums and
orphanages.
- Parents
and legal guardians have the right to provide education for their under-aged
children for whom they hold a legal responsibility,
according to their personal
convictions and beliefs (article 29, paragraph 6, of the Constitution of
Romania). However, by corroborating these provisions with the provisions of
article 20 of the Constitution, which stipulate that international regulations
prevail in the event of existing discrepancies between the domestic legal system
and international pacts and agreements regarding fundamental human rights to
which Romania is party, one may consider that the premises
for the priority
observance of the provisions of article 14 of the Convention on the Rights
of the Child have been created.
- Emergency
Ordinance No. 26/1997 regarding the protection of the child in difficulty
includes the provision that, in selecting a child
protection measure, the
necessity of observing reasonable continuity in the child’s education, as
well as his ethnic, religious,
cultural or linguistic origins, is to be
considered. In the event that the child has been entrusted for care to a
natural or legal
person, the religious beliefs of the child may not be altered,
except for certain exceptional cases which require the special approval
of the
Commission for the Protection of the Child.
- According
to the most recent legal provisions regarding religion as a school subject,
religion is compulsory for elementary school
and gymnasium, the child being
entitled to make an option of one of the various types of religion; the child is
free to change this
option throughout the academic year. At the parents’
request, the child may choose to stop attending the religion
classes.
E. Freedom of association and peaceful assembly (art.
15)
- The
Constitution of Romania sets the legal background, in articles 36 and 37, for
the freedom of public meetings and the right to freely associate,
respectively,
without, however, making any specific reference to children. Article 36
underlines the exclusively “peaceful,
weapon-free” character of
public meetings. Consequently, the right to peaceful assembly presupposes any
meeting that involves
expressing or exchanging ideas and opinions. Freedom of
association involves a positive component, through the possibility of
constituting
a freely consented to, goal-achievement-oriented group, as well as
a negative component, through the right to refuse membership in
a certain
association or organization.
- As
stipulated under article 15, paragraph 2 of the Convention, the limitations of
the exercise of these rights are regulated by law,
as deemed necessary in any
democratic society, in the best interests of the national security, public
safety and order, or for the
protection of public health or morals, or of the
rights and liberties of others (these limitations, as well as the penalties to
be
applied in the event of their violation, have been detailed under the chapter
“Freedom of expression”). In this sense,
article 37, paragraphs 2
and 3, of the Constitution stipulate that the parties or organizations
militating against political pluralism, against legal State principles or
against the
sovereignty, integrity and independence of Romania are
unconstitutional, and secret associations are prohibited.
- One
form of exercise of this right is the right to establish unions and to join
them. Article 3 of Law No. 54/1991 regarding unions
refers to child
employees, stipulating that they are free to participate in the establishment of
a union without any restrictions
whatsoever or the prior consent of their
parents or legal representatives. The child, however, may not be elected to the
union management,
unless he or she has already gained full capacity prior to
becoming of age (18) (article 9 of Law No. 54/1991).
- The
right of the child to associate does not include the right to participate in the
establishment of a political party, as the child
does not have the right to
vote, and, according to article 1 of Law No. 27/1996 regarding political
parties, these parties are associations
of Romanian citizens who have the right
to vote, i.e. people who have turned 18 before (and including) the election
date. Nevertheless,
article 6, paragraph 4, of Law No. 27/1996 grants the child
who has turned 16 the right to join a youth organization of a political
party
without, however, having the capacity of a party member.
- Another
issue regarding the exercise of legal rights provided by article 15 of the
Convention is the participation in public meetings
of the children capable of
forming their own opinion, the freedom to organize and join such meetings being
guaranteed by law, namely
by article 1 of Law No. 60/1991 regarding the
organization and development of public meetings. This law does not stipulate in
an
explicit manner the child’s right to participate in public meetings.
However, since this right has been guaranteed for everybody,
it goes without
saying that children capable of forming their own opinion also have the right to
participate in such meetings, considering
at the same time that article 3 also
refers to sports, cultural-artistic and religious meetings.
- Granting
the freedom of public assembly also involves the State’s obligation to
offer protection to any group exercising this
right peacefully, the State
undertaking to take all necessary reasonable precautions to this effect (art.
3).
- With
respect to the possibility of becoming a member of an association,
Law No. 21/1924 regarding legal persons does not specifically
State
that only persons who have acquired the full capacity to exert their rights may
become members of such associations, which
might mean that the under-age person
who is capable of forming his or her own opinions is free to associate for
purposes which are
not financial or patrimonial in nature (art. 31). The child,
however, may not acquire the status of member in the management or
administrative bodies of the association, as this would mean that he or she
would be liable for any prejudice caused by his or her
acts or deeds. The rules
and regulations for the enactment of legal provisions for legal persons
stipulate, under article 29, paragraph
3, that the statutes of association of
each legal person will specify the formalities and terms and conditions for
membership, such
as age, sex, occupation, etc.
- At
the same time, neither may a child be a founding member of such an association,
since setting up a foundation presupposes a free
decisional act, which requires
the full capacity to exercise one’s rights. In respect thereof, article
66 of Law No. 21/1924
stipulates that a foundation represents an official
document by virtue of which a natural or legal person constitutes a legal
patrimony
that is completely autonomous and distinct from his or her own, and
permanently dedicates it to the achievement of an ideal, to the
best general
interest.
F. Protection of privacy (art. 16)
- The
legal system of Romania does not include any special provisions meant to protect
the child from any interference in his private
life, to guarantee the
inviolability of his/her home and the secrecy of personal correspondence. These
rights, however, are guaranteed
by the Constitution of Romania for all its
citizens, under well-determined circumstances.
- The
Constitution of Romania stipulates that the public authorities shall respect and
protect the intimate, family and private lives of citizens.
Any natural person
has the right to be self-accountable, unless by this he causes a violation of
the rights and freedoms of others,
of public order or morals (art.
26).
- According
to article 27 of the Constitution, the domicile and residence are inviolable.
No one may enter or stay in the domicile or residence of a person without
consent.
Derogation from these provisions is permissible by law, under the
following circumstances:
(a) To carry into execution a warrant
of arrest or a court sentence;
(b) To remove any danger threatening a
person’s life, physical integrity, or assets;
(c) To defend
national security or public order; and
(d) To prevent the spreading of
any epidemics.
- In
close relation thereto, the same article 27 of the Constitution stipulates that
searches may only be ordered by a magistrate, and carried out exclusively in
strict observance of the legal procedures
in force. Searches at nighttime are
prohibited, except in cases of flagrante delicto.
- Article
28 of the Constitution of Romania relates to the secrecy of written
communication, stipulating the inviolability of the secrecy of letters,
telegrams, mailed
parcels or other postal communications, of telephone
conversations, and of any other legal means of communication.
- In
criminal law suits, in the event of an act the victim of which is a child and
which affects his/her personal image or privacy,
the child may benefit from a
private hearing to be held separately by the court in the Council
Chamber.
- It
is with the same intention of protecting the child’s privacy that the
meetings of the Commission for Child Protection are
not made public whenever a
protection measure for a child in difficulty is under discussion, and all
parties whose presence is considered
useful in determining the most adequate
solution for the referred protection measure are heard.
- Investigations/inquiries
or measures implemented in accordance with Emergency Ordinance No. 26/1997
regarding the protection of the
child in difficulty shall not be considered an
interference in the child’s private life. The child’s best interest
is
always the decisive criterion, as mentioned under chapters III and
V.
G. Access to appropriate information (art. 17)
- A
person’s right of access to any information of public interest cannot be
restricted, according to the provisions of article
31 of the Constitution. The
public authorities, according to their competencies, shall be bound to provide
correct information for citizens on public affairs
and on matters of personal
interest. Public and private media shall be bound to provide correct
information to the public. The
right to information shall not be prejudicial to
the protection of the young or to national security.
The Media
- To
protect children from the negative impact of any information or materials
broadcast on the public and private television channels,
there have been created
special provisions (compulsory norms and standards), within the framework of
Decision No. 105/1993 of the
National Audio-Visual Council, relating to any type
of advertising meant for or addressing children. According to article 3 of the
decision, any prejudice to the best interests of the child shall be prevented
and children’s extreme vulnerability and sensitivity
will be at all times
considered by complying with the following
criteria:
(a) Advertising should not urge children to buy a
certain product, to request a certain service or carry on a particular activity,
by appealing to their innocence and lack of experience;
(b) Advertising
should not encourage minors to persuade their parents or other persons to buy
the respective goods or services for
them;
(c) Advertising should not
take advantage of the trust invested by children in their parents, teachers or
other persons;
(d) Advertising should not make unjustified use of images
of children in hazardous or seemingly vulgar situations.
- These
special provisions regarding the advertising meant for or addressed to children
are seconded by the provisions of article 3
of Decision No. 105/1993,
stipulating the following general guidelines for advertising with a view to
protecting children and guaranteeing
an adequate environment for harmonious
development:
(a) To exclude any obscene manifestations
violating good morals;
(b) To prevent causing any prejudice to personal
dignity, honour and private life;
(c) To prevent any acts of incitement
to violence, national, racial, class or religious hatred, or discrimination
based on considerations
of race, sex or nationality;
(d) To prevent any
behaviour which might prejudice health and personal safety;
(e) To
discourage any behaviour that might prejudice the protection of the
environment.
- The
protection of children is also granted top priority in advertising certain
products, such as tobacco, alcoholic beverages, medication
and medical
treatments, as well as films and shows prohibited to children. Listed below are
the main regulations regarding these
issues which are included in Decision No.
105/1993:
Advertising tobacco is prohibited (art. 5, para. 1);
Advertising alcoholic beverages of any kind shall not address children in
particular and no one who may be considered as under-age
will be associated in
any commercial for alcoholic drinks (art. 5, para. 2.a);
Advertising alcoholic beverages is allowed at prime time, provided the
commercial does not include the actual drinking action, but
totally prohibited
during children’s shows or sports broadcasts (art. 5, para. 3);
Commercials regarding medication and medical treatment to be obtained only on
a prescription from a doctor are prohibited.
- Films
and shows that are prohibited to children, as well as films containing shocking
or extremely violent scenes, may only be shown
between 12 p.m. and 5 a.m. (art.
5, para. 7). Promotional advertising for the broadcasting schedule of certain
films or shows categorized
as sexy or excessively violent will neither include
images and sounds which might prejudice child protection measures, nor comments
meant to increase children’s interest in watching them. This type of
advertising is allowed only between 12 p.m. and 5 a.m.
These restrictions also
apply to commercials advertising erotica or any other subject intended to take
advantage of children’s
innocence and lack of experience.
Sex education
- Sex
education in schools is not compulsory by law. Sex education-related issues
(including HIV/AIDS and sexually transmissible diseases
(STDs)) will be tackled
during civic education classes, either by the teacher in charge of the class, or
by specialists to be invited
by the teacher (doctors, psychologists, etc.). The
large majority of schools organizing sex education classes are in urban centres,
whereas in rural environments, this type of education is almost
nonexistent.
- Besides
the classes organized within the school institutionalized framework, there are
also a number of NGOs (Societatea de Educatie
Contraceptiva si Sexuala (SECS),
Asociatia Romana Anti-SIDA (ARAS), “The Teenager”, etc.) which
develop sex educational
programmes, either directly addressing the children and
the young, or meant for training certain professional categories (teachers
in
pre- and primary school) who are currently involved in childrelated activities,
to enable them to convey the necessary information
according to the
understanding capacity of each age category. Part of these programmes are
targeted at the rural population, and
are among the few initiatives in this
field that address this segment of the population.
H. The right not to be subjected to torture or other cruel,
inhuman or
degrading treatment (art. 37 (a))
- Article
22 of the Constitution of Romania stipulates that no one may be subjected to
torture or to any kind of inhuman or degrading punishment or treatment (para.
2)
and includes the specific mention that the death penalty is prohibited (para.
3); the death penalty has been abrogated in Romania
by Decree-Law No. 6/1990 and
replaced with life imprisonment.
- Should
the law stipulate life imprisonment for an offence committed by a minor, the
child will be subjected to 5-20 years’ prison
confinement (art. 109, Penal
Code). There is also the possibility of releasing the child on parole,
according to the legal provisions
in force, upon fulfilment of a certain portion
of his punishment.
- Romania
has ratified the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman
or Degrading Punishment or Treatment, as well
as Protocols Nos. 1 and 2 to the
Convention.
- The
Penal Code of Romania mentions illegal arrest and investigation, torture and
illtreatment of minors as legal offences. Mention
should be made of the fact
that between 1994 and 1997, no one was criminally investigated or definitively
convicted for torture;
during the same period, however, 12 ex-policemen received
a definitive sentence for abusive behaviour, illegal arrest and abusive
investigation, the victims of whom had been nine children.
- The
main provision of the Romanian legal system guaranteeing the citizens’
right (children included) to notify and object to
any violation of rights, such
as the right stipulated under article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of
the Child, is the one stipulated
under article 47 of the Constitution
stating that Romanian citizens have the right to apply to the public authorities
by petitions formulated only in the name of the
signatories, the exercise of
this right being taxexempt. Additionally and more specifically, children have
the right to request
legal assistance through their legal representatives
(parents, legal guardians, a lawyer who is either chosen by them or appointed
ex
officio) regarding criminal prosecutions, should these acts prejudice in any way
their legitimate interests (art. 275, Penal Code).
- These
rights are reinforced by Law No. 23/1969 on the execution of penalties, which
stipulates that the administration of penitentiaries
and re-education centres
for minors will make available everything that is deemed necessary for writing a
petition, at the detained
person’s request, at the same time guaranteeing
their confidentiality. It is strictly prohibited to alter in any way the
correspondence
sent or received by convicted persons (minors included) or by the
minors detained in re-education centres in the exercise of their
right of
petition, or to reveal, without their consent, the content of their
correspondence in that regard. Violation of these obligations
will incur the
disciplinary liability of the penitentiaries’ and re-education
centres’ staff.
- Below
are the legislative provisions supporting the observance of the child’s
right not to be subjected to torture or any kind
of cruel, inhuman or degrading
punishment or treatment:
(a) In supervising a criminal
prosecution act, the prosecutor:
(i) Will direct and control the criminal investigation activity of the police
and make sure that the criminal investigation documents
are drawn up in full
compliance with the legal provisions in force (art. 218, para. 1, Criminal
Procedure Code);
(ii) May assist in the drawing up of any criminal investigation document or do
it himself (art. 218, para. 3, Criminal Procedure
Code);
(iii) May reject or justify any trial procedural measure whenever he considers
that it runs counter to the legal provisions in force
(art. 220, para. 3,
Criminal Procedure Code);
(b) In the event of a complaint
against the prosecution measures and acts, short time limits are established for
the prosecutor handling
the petition or his superior to find a solution to the
complaint;
(c) It is compulsory for a child to have a lawyer, both
during the prosecution and the trial, under the sanction of absolute nullity
of
the completed proceedings (art. 171, para. 2, Criminal Procedure
Code);
(d) The participation of the prosecutor in the trial is
compulsory where underage offenders are involved, not only for sustaining
the
accusation, but also for supervising the observance of the law.
- Another
issue worth mentioning relates to the measures initiated for the training of the
members of the judiciary who are directly
involved with children. We would like
to point out that efforts are being made to train specialized prosecutors and
judges designated
by the president of the trial court to carry out the
investigation and trial of penal causes related to children, by means of
training
courses, seminars and colloquiums organized by the Ministry of Justice
and the General Prosecutor’s Office attached to the
Supreme Court of
Justice.
- It
is also worth considering that, during 1994-1998, the National Institute of the
Magistracy devoted a certain number of hours per
year to the presentation of and
debate on the Convention on the Rights of the Child with respect to the legal
issues involved in
adoption and in court decisions on abandonment. A special
module dedicated to juvenile delinquency-related issues was included in
the
curriculum for the academic year 1997.
- Within
the larger legislative programme of Romania, there is a pending draft law
regarding the execution of penalties, as well as
a pending draft proposal to
alter the Criminal Procedure Code which specifically state the principles and
guarantees of observance
of the right of persons (minors included) not to be
subjected to torture or any inhuman or degrading treatment during
detention.
- Consequently,
enforcing certain inhuman or degrading disciplinary sanctions on minors (such
as, for example, detention in isolation)
is prohibited. It is specifically
strictly prohibited to submit minors to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,
and there is no
legal possibility for reeducation centre staff to invoke, under
any circumstances, a situation or legal provision which may support
such
treatment.
- Within
the legal framework regulating disciplinary measures applicable to minors, in
the event of a violation of the pre-established
internal norms and regulations,
there is the specific interdiction against group sanctions, corporal punishment
or threat thereof,
discontinuation of nourishment, medical treatment, visits or
packages received by minors, as well as other types of punishment which
might be
considered cruel, inhuman or degrading.
- There
is also a pending draft law regarding the probationary service, which has been
nonexistent so far in the Romanian legal system.
In view of their age and the
specificity of children’s personalities, the draft law stipulates that an
evaluation report by
the probationary departments should become compulsory for
under-age offenders, and the evaluation will be jointly performed by an
interdisciplinary team of medical staff, teaching staff, psychologists,
sociologists, etc.
- The
training of the probationary counsellors would be carried out by the National
Probationary Institute, the organization and operation
of which will be
established by government decision. Some of the probationary measures may also
address children, such as: the measure
of remaining with the parents or with the
legal representative; the measure of compelling the child who is already 16 on
the date
of committing the criminal offence to perform social activities to the
benefit of the community, such activity being performed upon
termination of the
daily training and educational schedule; the measure of interdiction of any
direct contact or relations with persons
who have inflicted bodily injury or
have caused physical or psychic trauma to a child, considering at all times the
latter’s
best interest.
- Additional
information on the juridical status of children who have violated the law will
be included in Chapter VIII, “Special
Protection
Measures”.
V. FAMILY ENVIRONMENT AND ALTERNATIVE CARE
A. Parental guidance (art. 5)
- The
Constitution and the Family Code stipulate the principles of setting up and
making a family work; these principles have already been mentioned
in
Romania’s initial report. As a general remark, we might say that the
paternalist tradition is still being promoted in children’s
education,
being excessively based on paternal authority and, very often, domestic
violence. Family is still considered a “taboo”
environment where
professional interference, focused on the best interest of the child, is
discouraged.
- There
are no counselling or advisory services for young couples, more particularly for
future parents, except for pre-natal medical
check-ups. In the current
educational system, there is no real concern for educating the younger
generation in the spirit of family
values, parental responsibilities and the
rights of the child.
- Family
educational programmes focused on a new approach towards the child, on promoting
a new vision of child protection within families
and society, are at present at
the stage of initiating some specialized pilot programmes. Some attempts at
experimenting with parental
counselling and educational centres or services
within a number of educational and training institutions, pilot projects of NGOs
are worth mentioning; however, their number is small and their coverage area
insignificant.
- As
a consequence thereof, the Government’s strategy for the reform of the
child’s rights protection system, primarily
pursuing the child’s
best interest, is focused on keeping children under natural family care and on
developing social services
to support them. These objectives are achieved both
through the specialized services within the Regional/Local Directorates for
the
Protection of the Rights of the Child, as well as by promoting and diversifying
social child protection services. At the level
of the Directorates, the
departments directly involved in parent counselling and support are the
following:
(a) The Department for Financial Assistance and
Support, which is involved in the prevention of situations which might
jeopardize
the child’s security and development. It is charged with
specific tasks in emergency interventions, offering counselling and
financial
and other material support for parents so that they may be able to assume their
duties towards the child;
(b) The Department for Family-Related Child
Protection Issues, whose main duty is to offer assistance, counselling and
support to
the families or persons who have been entrusted with children for
care, irrespective of whether they represent the child’s
natural family,
to manage issues relating to fostering, caring for or adopting a child and to
adapting to the specificity of each
of these as well as to the timing/purpose of
the intervention in favour of the child (abandonment prevention, family
integration/reintegration,
crisis situations, etc.);
(c) The Department
for the Protection of the Delinquent Child, in charge of counselling and
improving the relationships between parents
and children involved in juvenile
delinquency problems;
(d) The Department for Residential-Related Child
Protection Issues, in charge of specific domestic activities with the child in
residential-type
care and, in addition, responsible for keeping in touch with
the child’s natural or foster family, offering counselling and
support to
these families with a view to achieving the child’s reintegration.
- A
strategic priority, which is promoted as such, is considered to be the
development of a large spectrum of community services of
parental support by
making use of the existent facilities and resources at the level of each local
community. Listed below are the
main types of diversified child protection
services targeted at strengthening the family’s capacity to provide the
best educational
and development conditions for their
children:
(a) The Maternal Shelter offers a temporary shelter
to unmarried mothers and their children, to prevent child abandonment by
developing
their affection for the child and to support them by counselling and
parental education;
(b) The Day-Nursing Centre offers daytime care for
children from families in risky situations, to prevent abandonment and to
support
the child within his or her natural family;
(c) The Parent
Counselling and Support Centre offers counselling and support to families in
risky situations, to improve relationships
among their members with a view to
keeping the family united and preventing child abandonment and
institutionalization. These centres
are also supposed to offer parental
education, to teach young parents how to treat their children, to help them
become good, trustworthy
parents and to encourage parent-child
relationships;
(d) The Centre for the Preparation of Child Integration
and Reintegration in Families is in charge of preparing the child and his/her
family for getting better adapted to each other and for getting over the initial
period of re-establishing the parent-child relationship
and making this
experience as untraumatic for the child as possible;
(e) The Day-Care
Centre for Children with Special Needs offers daytime care and therapeutic
assistance for children with special
needs, as well as counselling to their
families, with a view to better understanding their children and their special
needs;
(f) The Assistance and Support Centre for Psychological
Readaptation of the Child with Psycho-Social Problems will fulfil the function
of a temporary placement centre, as well as of an evaluation (therapeutic)
centre, within which a multidisciplinary team will offer
specialized assistance
to children and their families.
- On
the other hand, mention should be made of the fact that data and information
regarding child development are also included in the
academic curricula of the
faculties whose graduates will be directly involved in childcare activities
(teachers, doctors, sociologists,
psychologists, social assistants), as well as
in the pre-university curricula.
- A
great number of persons who have redirected their occupational focus from other
domains of activity, without any particular training
in childcare and with a
limited experience in and knowledge of child neuro-psycho-motor development
processes, are active in the
services or departments of social assistance,
tutelary authority and child protection institutions. A considerable number of
professional
and training reconversion programmes have been initiated for the
staff of the specialized services for the protection of the rights
of the child,
as well as for the staff of the placement centres, so as to be able to offer
children adequate guidance in their individualized
needs.
- A
larger involvement of the central and local authorities is anticipated in
popularizing the Convention’s principles at the
level of the communities,
groups of specialists and preschool and school communities, as well as in
promoting a particular human
resource policy in childcare institutions, so that
the persons to be employed have the required competency, experience and
training,
which should enable them to offer good quality guidance and
services.
B. Priority of parental responsibilities (art. 18, paras.
1-2)
- The
basic principles regarding parental responsibility stipulated by the Romanian
legal system are the following:
− Fundamental equality of both parents regarding their rights and duties
towards the child;
− Promotion of the child’s best interest;
− Non-discrimination between children born in wedlock, out of wedlock or
adopted;
− The parents’ obligation to take care of and provide for the child,
according to his or her needs;
− The parents’ duty to ensure all necessary conditions for the
upbringing, education, instruction and vocational training
of their
children.
- The
Constitution of Romania stipulates that parents have the right and the
obligation to ensure, in accordance with their own convictions, the education
and training of the minor children whose responsibility devolves on them (art.
29, para. 6). Article 44, paragraph 1, implies that
the right and obligation to
ensure the upbringing, education, instruction and vocational training of their
minor children is to be
exerted equally by both parents. The principle
according to which parents are considered first and foremost responsible for the
upbringing and education of their children is not made specific by the law. The
Family Code only stipulates, in article 1, that
the State will protect marriage
and the family, and that the State defends the interests of the mother and of
the child, respectively.
With the changes to be made to the Family Code, it is
envisaged that parent-child family relationships would also be reconsidered
in
the sense of establishing the principle that the responsibility for the
upbringing and education of children lies first and foremost
with the
parents.
- The
chapter in the Family Code dedicated to the protection of the minor child
stipulates, in article 101, the parents’ obligation
to ensure their
child’s upbringing, as well as the nature and content of this obligation,
i.e. care for the child’s health
and physical development, education,
instruction and vocational training. Article 97 mentions the principle of
common parental responsibilities
based on the parents’ full equality of
rights towards their minor children.
- In
the event of a dissolution of marriage through legal divorce, the parents’
rights and obligations will nevertheless be exerted
unequally by each parent,
since the court is compelled to entrust each child to either the mother or the
father, in considering the
children’s best interests (article 42,
paragraph 1 of the Family Code). In the event that the child should be
entrusted to
a third party, parental rights will only be partly exerted by the
natural parents (art. 42, paras. 2 and 3).
- According
to article 43 of the Family Code, parental rights will only be exerted by the
parent whom the child has been entrusted to,
while the other parent is only
entitled to personal relations with the minor and to watch over his or her
upbringing and education.
The provisions
regarding the custody of the minor children upon the conclusion of the
parents’ legal divorce are also applicable, by virtue
of similarity, to
nullified or annulled marriages (art. 24, Family Code), as well as to custody of
a child born out of wedlock to
one of his or her parents (art. 65, Family
Code).
- Parental
responsibility presupposes the parents’ responsibilities to provide for
the best interest of the child. Consequently,
according to article 105 of the
Family Code, parents have the right and obligation to manage their minor
child’s estate or
assets. At the same time, however, the principle of
separation of assets is also operational among parents and children (art. 106).
It is still the Family Code which stipulates the parents’ obligation to
maintain and support his or her child (art. 107),
as an element of parental
responsibility. In the event of disagreements between the two parents, the
extent of this maintenance
responsibility, as well as of the contribution of
each of the two parents, will be determined by the court, where the monitoring
of the tutelary authority is a compulsory procedure (art. 107, para. 3). The
obligation to support and maintain the minor child
will also hold valid even if
a parent has been legally deprived of his/her parental rights (art.
110).
- In
the event of an abusive exercise of parental rights or in cases of severe
negligence in fulfilling parental obligations, parents
may be deprived of the
exercise of parental rights (art. 109, Family Code). Should the
circumstances giving rise to the deprivation
of these rights cease to exist,
such that the up-bringing, education, instruction, vocational training and
patrimonial interests
of the child are no longer prejudiced, the court of
justice may decide that the parents should recover their rights of
parenthood.
- According
to the provisions of Emergency Ordinance No. 26/1997, the responsibility for
providing protection and assistance in achieving
and exerting the rights of the
child in difficulty (whose development or physical or moral integrity is
jeopardized) lies, in the
first place, with the local community the respective
child belongs to, while receiving at the same time support from the State.
The
measures which the Commission for Child Protection may take for the protection
of children in difficulty refer, first and foremost,
to the child’s
entrustment to/placement with a person or family, granting priority to the
relatives of up to the fourth degree,
or putting the child up for adoption. In
the event that both parents are deceased, unknown, placed under interdiction,
have disappeared,
have been declared dead, or have been deprived of the exercise
of parental rights and no guardianship has been instated, in the event
that the
child should be declared abandoned by a final and binding court decision, as
well as in the event that the court of justice
has not yet decided the
child’s placement with a person or family, the parental rights towards
that child will, under the terms
and conditions imposed by the law, be exerted
by the county council, or by the local councils of the districts of the City of
Bucharest
respectively, through the Commission for Child
Protection.
- Should
there be no adequate families or persons to whom the child may be entrusted, the
Commission for Child Protection may decide
that he or she should be entrusted to
a specialized child protection public service or to an authorized private
institution, under
the conditions of the
law in force. Natural and legal persons who have been entrusted with such
children for care will only undertake the rights and obligations
that parents
have towards the child as a person. The child’s natural parents will
maintain their rights and obligations towards
him/her throughout the duration of
the placement period, except for those rights and obligations that are
incompatible with the enforcement
of this measure.
- Natural
and legal persons who have been entrusted with a child for care will secure all
necessary care and conditions required for
the child’s harmonious
development. The parents’ consent for performing all current legal
formalities required to carry
out this obligation or to prevent any emergency
situation which might jeopardize the child’s security, development or
moral
integrity is presumed. Throughout the duration of the placement, the
child’s domicile will be the residence of the person
to whom he or she has
been entrusted.
- In
the event that the Commission for Child Protection should decide on the
child’s entrustment or placement, the biological
family will be made
liable, either by having to pay a monthly financial contribution, or by
“performing unpaid services to
the benefit of the community, throughout
the period of entrustment or placement”. At the same time, this
specialized service
will “supervise the families and persons to whom a
child has been entrusted or placed with, throughout the duration of
applicability
of this measure, as well as the biological parents, after the
child’s return in his or her family environment” (art.
20
(f)).
- With
reference to the child’s right to express thoughts and opinions and his or
her involvement in an act of decision, there
are clearly stated provisions, such
as:
(a) The child’s right to express his or her opinion,
in a court of justice, in a divorce trial, starting at the age of 10 (Family
Code);
(b) The right to choose the type of education and religion
(article 10, Emergency Ordinance No. 26/1997 stipulates that the
institutionalized
child’s education and religious faith may only be
altered upon prior approval being obtained from the Commission for Child
Protection. In the event that the child has turned 14, his or her consent is
also requested);
(c) The participation of the child in a decision to
take a measure of protection is guaranteed; the public service specialized in
the protection of the rights of the child has the duty to determine the opinion
of the child capable of forming his/her own opinions
with respect to his/her own
family or the person proposed for accepting his/her custody or placement, and to
bring this opinion to
the attention of the Commission for Child Protection. The
law also stipulates the necessity of summoning before the Commission for
Child
Protection the parents, as well as the child who has reached the age of 10. The
decision taken will be communicated to the
parents and to the person, family or
authorized private institution to whom the child has been entrusted or placed
with of the child
who has reached the age of 10.
- Creating
a legal framework with a view to increasing family responsibility, as well as
rendering the child responsible by getting
him/her involved in the planning of
his/her future are key elements of the governmental strategy for the reform in
the field of child
protection.
- A
child’s legal guardian is entitled to bring the child up as if he or she
were his own. Parenthood liability will, therefore,
be transferred to the
child’s legal guardian (art. 123, Family Code). Just like for
natural parents, the tutelary authority
will periodically check on the way the
legal guardian fulfils his or her duties towards the minor child and his/her
assets or estate
(arts. 134, 135 and 136, Family Code). In the event that
the legal guardian commits an act of abuse or severe negligence which renders
him unworthy of the role of legal guardian, or in the event that he does not
fulfil his duties in a satisfactory manner, he/she will
be deprived of the legal
rights of guardianship (art. 138, Family Code).
- Provisions
relating to parental responsibility can also be found in the Civil Code, in the
chapter dedicated to civil liability in
cases of misdemeanours or offences.
Thus, article 1000, paragraph 2, stipulates the parents’
responsibility for illicit acts
inducing prejudice to their minor children. The
basis for the parents’ responsibility for such acts is, under the current
legislation, not only their duty to supervise the child, but also the more
complex obligation to provide for his or her upbringing
and education.
Article 1000, paragraph 2, of the Civil Code states a presumption of
guilt on the part of the parents that is a relative
presumption, which may be
removed by proving that there was nothing that the parents could have done to
prevent the prejudicial act
(art. 1000, para. 5). By basing the
parents’ responsibility on their duty to supervise, as well as to raise
and educate their
minor child, proving the contrary will be a more difficult
endeavour, which may increase the exigencies of fulfilling the obligations
that
the parents have.
- According
to Law No. 47/1993 regarding the declaration of child abandonment by a legal
court, a child may be declared abandoned in
the event that parental rights are
only partly granted to the child’s parents while the child is entrusted to
a third party,
and if the normal personal relationship between the parents and
the child cease for a period exceeding six months (art. 1). For
those
children who have been placed under the specialized care of a Stateowned social
or medical protection institution or of a private
legally constituted care
institution, abandonment will not be declared if, within six months or during
the trial, a sibling of up
to and including the fourth degree requests that the
child be entrusted to him/her for its care and education, and his/her request
has been determined as being in the best interest of the child (art. 3).
Therefore, if it is in the best interest of the child,
his or her placement with
a relative will be granted priority over the measure of
abandonment.
- Should
abandonment be declared, the court will delegate the exercise of parental rights
to the protection institution or the person
to whom the child has been entrusted
(art. 4). Also, should the circumstances having given rise to the legal
declaration in court
of abandonment cease, and should this be in the
child’s best interest, the court may decide to reinstate the exercise of
parental
rights.
- Other
special laws provide sanctions for the failure to carry out parental duties or
for the abusive execution thereof.
- According
to the Training and Education Law No. 84/1995, the nonobservance of the
parent’s or legal guardian’s obligation
to ensure the child’s
attendance at school constitutes an offence and will be punished by a fine
(art. 178, para. 2). Other
punishable offences are stipulated by Law
No. 61/1991 regarding the punishment of any act of violation of certain
social cohabitation
rules, of public order and peace by the parent or guardian:
expelling children from their common shelter, urging minors in any way
to commit
offences, failure to take all necessary precautions to prevent begging,
thieving, or prostitution by the child (art. 2).
- The
Penal Code incriminates family abandonment under article 305. That offence
consists of abandoning, expelling or leaving a child
without support, the
deliberate illintentioned nonfulfilment of the obligation of maintenance or the
deliberate failure to pay, for
a period of two months, the courtdetermined
maintenance of the child. Article 306 of the Penal Code sanctions the
deliberate act
of severely jeopardizing the minor’s physical, intellectual
and moral development by the parents or the person to whom the
child has been
entrusted for care and education.
C. Child maintenance expenses
- Article 43
of the Constitution of Romania stipulates that the State shall be bound to take
measures of economic development and social protection to ensure a decent
living
standard for its citizens. Citizens have the right to receive pensions, paid
maternity leave, medical care in public health
establishments, unemployment
benefits and other forms of social care as provided by law.
- Romanian
legislation stipulates that the full responsibility for the maintenance of the
child lies with his or her parents, legal
guardians or other legal
custodians.
- Article 105
of the Family Code stipulates that “parents have the right and obligation
to manage their minor children’s
estate or assets and to represent them in
legal acts until the age of 14”. After the age of 14, the minor will
exert his rights
and obligations independently, subject to the prior approval of
his or her parents in order to protect him or her against abuse by
third
parties.
- The
State’s support towards the family fulfilling child maintenance
obligations takes the following forms and is equally valid
for all
children:
− State allowance for children (as per Law No. 61/1993 regarding the
child State allowance), the value of which has been established
at
65,000 lei, subject to reevaluation;
− Supplementary allowance, of variable value, allocated to families
starting with their second child (as per Law No. 119/1997
regarding the
supplementary allowance for families with children);
− Paid leave for either of the two parents for taking care of a child
until the age of 2 (as per Law No. 120/1997);
− Birth benefits starting with the birth of the second child (Law
No. 67/1995);
− Interruption for the feeding and care of the child aged 912 months
(Labour Code, art. 156);
− Prohibition on night work for pregnant or breastfeeding mothers (ibid.,
art. 154), and on work that might expose them to
bodily injury or difficult
or dangerous conditions (ibid., art. 152).
- Additional
forms of assistance and support are stipulated by the law in force for the
families in difficulty:
− Unemployment benefits, of variable value, under the conditions
stipulated by Law No. 1/1991 regarding the social protection
of the
unemployed and their professional reintegration, modified and completed by Law
No. 65/1997;
− Social benefits for the families with no or very low income (Law
No. 67/1995).
- Details
regarding the value limits and conditions for granting these forms of support
will be presented under chapter VI.
- The
Family Code (art. 42) specifies that, upon legally pronouncing the divorce,
the court will determine “each parent’s
contribution to the expenses
incurred by the upbringing, education, instruction and vocational training of
their children”.
The law stipulates that “the alimony will be due
in accordance with the demands of the person requesting it and with the
financial
possibilities of the person bound to pay for it”, its value
being determined by the court of justice, in accordance with the
legal
provisions in force. Should there be any disagreements with respect to the
maintenance obligation due by the parents to the
minor (i.e. its value, nature,
executing modalities or personal contribution of each parent), the court will
decide, subject to the
prior hearing of the tutelary authority.
- Even
if, in the event of a legal divorce, the court determines the alimony value, the
exercise of this right of the child will be
impossible to achieve whenever the
paying parent:
− Is not working, therefore does not have a stable, registered
income;
− Has abandoned the family and there is no knowledge of his
whereabouts;
− Frequently changes his job;
− Applies pressure and, by means of threats, intimidates the requesting
parent so as to cause him or her to abandon the idea
of bringing the issue to
court.
- In
the event that both parents are deceased, unknown, have lost parental authority,
are placed under interdiction, have disappeared
or have been declared dead, the
child will be placed under guardianship. The legal guardian will take good care
of the child and
will manage his or her estate, assets or income, under the
direct supervision of the tutelary authority, by virtue of the specific
regulations expressed in the Family Code and other civil legal norms in force.
The legal guardian will submit annually to the tutelary
authority a report,
which should also include statements accounting for the administration of the
child’s estate and income.
- For
the child in difficulty for whom a legal protection measure has been ordered,
the Romanian law stipulates:
(a) The guaranteed observance of
the respective child’s right to benefit, like all other children in
Romania, from the State
allowance for children. In 1989, the State allowance
for children represented 2.7 per cent of GDP. The introduction in
1991 of
a 20 per cent tax exemption for persons with children led to a
financial budgetary support increase for families with children amounting
to
approximately 4 per cent of GDP, as estimated by the World Bank. By
eliminating the tax reduction and by diminishing the actual
value of the State
allowance for children, the total value of the latter had gone below
0.6 per cent of GDP in 1996. In 1997, the
value of the allowance was
established at a net amount of 50,000 lei/month (around 65 per cent of
the 1989 value of the allowance)
and further reevaluated and increased to
65,000 lei/month, and all children, without any discrimination whatsoever,
benefit from
this monthly allowance. The value of the monthly allowance is
double for the children with special needs;
(b) The State covers part of
the expenses incurred by children’s education (free education for
institutionalized children,
a (pre)academic as well as a social scholarship
system);
(c) The State covers all medical carerelated expenses, since
medical assistance is free for children.
- In
the event of entrusting/placing the child with a natural or legal person,
subsequent to the adoption of a protective measure, these
persons will acquire
the rights and obligations that parents hold towards their children. The
management of the child’s estate
will be performed by the Commission for
Child Protection, which may delegate the specialized public service for child
protection
to this effect. The latter will have to submit annual reports on its
performance in connection thereof.
- Natural
persons (substitute families) and legal persons (the specialized public service
or the authorized private institutions) have
the obligation to maintain and take
care of the child throughout the protection period. For each child entrusted or
placed under
family care, the State offers a monthly allowance of
380,662 lei, subject to reevaluation, as per the provisions of Governmental
Decision No. 295/1999, regarding certain social protection
measures.
- The
persons who have been entrusted with a child for family care having the status
of maternal assistant under the provisions of Governmental
Decision
No. 217/1998 benefit throughout the duration of the protection period from
a salary established as the equivalent of the
gross monthly salary of a high
school graduate social assistant, employed according to the number of years of
professional experience.
This period is considered as cumulative professional
experience and is recorded as such in the labour books. The conditions imposed
on the respective person/family are to be able to obtain the maternal assistant
certificate and not to be a relative of up to the
fourth degree of the
child.
- An
element of innovation is represented by the provisions of article 24 of the
Government’s Emergency Ordinance No. 26/1997,
stipulating that the
decision regarding both the total value of the parents’ monthly
contribution to the maintenance of the
child protected under the conditions
stated by the Family Code and the possibility of performing certain unpaid
activities for the
community, will be taken by the Commission for Child
Protection.
- Among
the difficulties which may impact upon the coverage of the child maintenance
expenses are:
− Lack of the birth certificate due to the failure to record the
child’s birth in the registrar of births, marriages
and
deaths;
− Failure to attend compulsory education in school, which leads to an
annulment of the right to the State allowance for children;
this measure was
taken to stimulate compulsory school attendance and to diminish school
absenteeism and abandonment, but the results
have been insignificant in this
regard;
− Failure to offer complete coverage of the actual current needs of the
evermorenumerous communities and families affected
by poverty by means of social
scholarships or financial support, etc., which are relatively
limited;
− The relatively expensive and strenuous procedures of appeal to the
courts to require the spouse/partner who has abandoned
the home/family to
contribute, at least, financially to child maintenance. In most cases, these
procedures are for mothers who lack
the financial means, required knowledge and
family support to initiate trial proceedings in order to obtain the maintenance
allowance
for their child/children in the event of family abandonment, divorce,
etc.
D. Separation from parents (art. 9)
- The
right of children not to be separated from the parents against their will is
implicitly recognized in the juridical norms regulating
parentchild relations.
Consequently, besides article 100 of the Family Code, dedicated to the
principle that children live with
their parents, article 14,
paragraph 1, of Decree No. 31/1954, regarding natural and legal
persons, stipulates that the minor’s
domicile is the same as the
parents’. An identical provision is included in article 25 of Law
No. 105/1996 regarding population
records and the identity
card.
- The
Romanian legal system envisages a number of exceptional situations where it
becomes possible for a child to be separated from
the parents, or only from one
of them, while considering the child’s best interests: subsequent to an
act of divorce; to the
parents’ losing parental authority and rights; to
arrest or detention.
- In
the event of the parents’ divorce, considering the best interests of the
child, the court will decide to award custody of
the child to one of the
parents, or, for welljustified reasons, to a
thirdparty. During the divorce trial, the court may also decide to separate
the child from one of the parents as a temporary measure
(article 613 of
the Civil Procedural Code). The court’s decision on custody may be
legally contested. Should the original
circumstances change, at the request of
any of the parents, or even the child, if he has turned 14, or of the tutelary
authority,
or any of the child protection institutions, the court may modify its
decision.
- The
child’s separation from the parents subsequent to the loss of their
parental authority is a decision to be taken by the
court, at the request of the
tutelary authority or the specialized service for the protection of the rights
of the child, by virtue
of article 109 of the Family Code. The court may
decide on the loss of parental authority in the event that “the
child’s
health or physical development is jeopardized by the way parental
rights are being exerted, by abusive behaviour or severe negligence
in
fulfilling parental obligations, or if the education, instruction or vocational
training of the child are not performed within
the spirit of devotion towards
Romania. Summoning both the parents and the tutelary authority is
compulsory” (Family Code,
art. 109). This legal provision is
completed by article 14 of Governmental Emergency Ordinance
No. 26/1997: “(1) In exceptional
cases, whenever the parents, or
only one of them, jeopardize(s) the child’s security, development or moral
integrity, by abusively
exerting parental rights or by manifesting severe
negligence in fulfilling parental obligations, the specialized public
childprotection
service may order the child’s emergency placement in a
shelter/centre, which is organized and operates under its direct supervision,
or
under the supervision of an authorized private institution, or his/her
entrustment to a person or family authorized accordingly
....” In
turn, the Commission for Child Protection will check on and reevaluate, at least
quarterly, the circumstances that
have led to the child’s placement
(ibid., art. 21).
- Another
exceptional situation where the child may be separated from the parents is
stipulated by Governmental Emergency Ordinance
No. 26/1997 regarding the
protection of the child in difficulty. According to article 12,
paragraph 1, the Commission for Child
Protection may decide to place the
child with a family or person who has consented to take the child, whenever the
child’s
security, development or moral integrity is jeopardized in his or
her natural family owing to reasons beyond the parents’ control.
Should
there be no relevant family available for the child, the Commission for Child
Protection may decide to place him/her with
the specialized public service for
child protection or with an authorized private organization (art. 12,
para. 2).
- With
respect to paragraph 4 of article 9 of the Convention, the Criminal
Procedure Code stipulates the possibility of providing the
family (child
included) with the essential information concerning any act of detention or
arrest of the parent or child. With reference
to the delinquency of minors,
should the respective children be considered criminally liable, they will be
subjected to the provisions
of the penal law. In the event of a thoroughly
justified punishment by imprisonment, the minor will be separated from his or
her
family subsequent to a court sentence. The penalty of the minors will be
reduced to half the penalty enforceable on adults for the
same offence, provided
the minimum period of the penalty does not exceed 5 years, and that the offence
is subject to 5 to 20 years’
life imprisonment. The minor who has been
arrested or imprisoned will maintain personal relations and direct contact with
his or
her biological family.
- Although
the Penal Code, completed by Law No. 140/1996, includes provisions relative
to the possibility of the minor who has not committed
serious offences to
voluntarily engage in activities to the benefit of the community, the
probationary system of other countries
does not exist in Romania. There are
certain initiatives to this effect, but they are sporadic.
- In
relation to the child’s place of residence, the Family Code specifies
“the child’s right to live with his or
her parents in their common
residence, or in the residence of only one of them, according to the prior
agreement between the two
parents, in the event that they are living
separately” (Family Code, art. 100).
- Regarding
the participation of the parties and the child in court proceedings, the Family
Code specifies the right of all interested
parties to participate in the
proceedings and make their views known with respect to the separation of the
minor from one of the
parents. In the event of a trial to decide the loss of
parental authority, it is compulsory to summon the two parents as well as
the
tutelary authority.
- The
right of the child aged 10 to be given a legal hearing in court is observed in
custody cases (ibid., art. 100, para. 3, and art.
42,
para. 1). The same principle is applicable whenever the Commission for
Child Protection has to take a protection measure (articles
27 and 28 of
the Government’s Emergency Ordinance No. 26/1997). The child who has
reached the age of 10 is summoned to the
Commission for Child Protection and is
notified about the decision that has been taken.
- In
the event of the separation of the minors from their parents, the continuation
of the relations between them is guaranteed by law.
The Family Code specifies
that: “the tutelary authority will allow the parent who has lost parental
authority to maintain
personal relations with his or her child, unless such
relations may jeopardize the upbringing, education, instruction or vocational
training of the child” (art. 111). Also, in the event of divorce,
whenever the child’s place of residence has been determined
to be with one
of the parents, the child has the right to be visited by and maintain personal
relations and direct contact with the
other parent.
- The
Government’s Emergency Ordinance No. 26/1997 refers to the minor in
relation to whom a protection measure has been taken,
by specifying the
following:
(a) Article 11 Parents may maintain personal
relations and direct contact with the child, under the terms determined by the
Commission
for Child Protection, if the best interests of the child are
observed. The specialized child protection public service or the authorized
public organization will create all necessary conditions to this effect,
according to the legal provisions in force;
(b) Article 13 Parents
have the right to maintain permanent and direct contact with their child
throughout the duration of the legal
placement. They have the right to visit
the child, under legal terms, as well as the right to send and receive letters
to and from
the child. Parents may visit the child at the place of
residence/headquarters of the person or family with whom the child has been
placed, subject only to the respective person’s/family’s approval
and in the presence of the representatives of the specialized
child protection
public service.
- As
a guarantee of the observance of the right of the child who has been separated
from a/both parent(s), the Penal Code sanctions,
in article 307,
paragraph 2, any repeated attempts by the person with whom the child has
been entrusted by a court decision to obstruct
the right of the parent(s) to
maintain personal relations and direct contact with the minor, under the terms
agreed by the parties
or determined by the relevant authority. At the same
time, the Penal Code (art. 307, para. 1) incriminates the retention of
a minor
child by a parent(s) without the consent of the other parent or of the
person to whom the child has been legally entrusted.
- These
legal norms consider at all times that the child’s relations with the
biological parent(s) do not run contrary to the
best interests of the child. In
effect, the relationship of a child with a separated parent has always been
achieved without any
guidance, support or counselling from family counsellors or
social assistants. After the enforcement of the new legislative framework
in
the field the entire activity will be carried out with the support and under the
direct supervision of the specialized staff of
the Directorates for Child
Protection of each county.
- With
respect to paragraph 4 of article 9 of the Convention, the Criminal
Procedure Code stipulates the possibility of providing the
family (child
included) with the essential information concerning any act of detention or
arrest of the parent or child. According
to article 137, in the event of
arrest, the prosecutor or court will provide a member of the arrested
person’s family, or any
other person designated by him/her, with all
relevant information within 24 hours. Also, according to article 161 of
the Criminal
Procedure Code, whenever the parents are detained or arrested, all
relevant authorities must be notified in order to be able to take
all necessary
protection measures for the child.
E. Children deprived of their family environment
(art. 20)
- Children
who are temporarily or permanently deprived of their family environment shall be
entitled to special protection and assistance
provided by public authorities.
In the event of children who have been separated from their parents subsequent
to a decision taken
by virtue of the most recent legislation in the domain of
child protection, the specialized public child protection services will
be
responsible for ensuring alternative care for these children. The types of
alternative care have been explained elsewhere in
this report. The selection of
the most appropriate type of alternative care for the child temporarily deprived
of his or her family
environment is governed by the paramount consideration of
the best interests of the child.
F. Adoption (art. 21)
The best interests of the child
- Under
the terms of the latest legislation in the field of adoptions (Emergency
Ordinance No. 25/1997, approved and confirmed by Law
No. 87/1998),
adoption will be considered only for the protection of the best interests of the
child (art. 1, para. 2). The status
of adopter may only be granted to
a family or person who has proven the financial means and moral guarantees
required for a harmonious
development of the child (article 6,
paragraph 1, of Government’s Emergency Ordinance No. 25/1997).
According to article 6,
paragraph 2, the Commission for Child
Protection responsible for the place of residence of the person or family
expressing the intention
to adopt a child represents the institution authorized
to assess and evaluate the existence of the necessary conditions and guarantees.
The Commission may request the dissolution of any adoption, if such dissolution
is in the best interests of the child (art. 22,
para.
2).
- The
Commission for Child Protection will consider with priority entrusting the child
to a relative of up to and including the fourth
degree (art. 9,
para. 7). The Commission will also consider with priority the adoption
requests of Romanian citizens or families
as opposed to foreign citizens. The
opinion of the discerning child will first be determined before taking any
decisions regarding
adoption (art. 9, para. 8).
Competence and procedures
- Article 14
of the Government’s Emergency Ordinance No. 25/1997 stipulates that
the court whose geographical area of competence
includes the child’s place
of residence is the authorized institution for granting approval for adoptions
(art. 16, para. 1).
In the event that it is impossible to determine
the relevant court, the authorized court will be the Tribunal of the City of
Bucharest.
The decision will be made by a court made up of two judges to be
appointed by the Ministry of Justice (art. 18, para. 1).
- The
evaluation of a request to obtain the certified status of adoptive family/person
will be performed by the specialized public service
for the protection of the
rights of the child in the area where the adoptive family or person is resident.
The certificate will be
issued by the relevant Commission for Child
Protection.
- The
same specialized public service for the protection of the rights of the child is
in charge of identifying and proposing an appropriate
family from among those
who have obtained the above certificate for each and every child legally
declared available for adoption.
The grant of custody with a view to adoption
lies within the competence of the Commission for Child Protection, as does the
issuance
of the notification that the adoption has been authorized, upon expiry
of the term of at least three months from the date of the
award of custody
provided by law.
- The
main duties of the Romanian Committee for Adoptions are to supervise and support
any measures of protection of the rights of the
child by means of legal adoption
and to seek international cooperation in this domain (art. 10,
para. 1). Its activity is coordinated
by the Department for Child
Protection. The Committee is in charge of receiving all requests filed by the
persons or families whose
domicile or place of residence is on the territory of
Romania wishing to adopt a child. These requests are forwarded to the relevant
courts, through the specialized public child protection services or the
authorized private organizations. Attached to such requests
will be the
official confirmation of the Romanian Committee for Adoptions that the
procedures and terms provided under articles 11,
12 and 13 have been fully
complied with (art. 14, para. 5).
Guarantees
- The
adoption of children who are not included in the records of the Romanian
Committee for Adoptions is strictly prohibited, with
the exception of certain
special cases, such as a spouse adopting the natural child of the other spouse,
and the adopters being a
sibling of up to and including the fourth degree of one
of the child’s parents (art. 13). The Romanian Committee for
Adoptions
or the Commission for Child Protection in charge of the place of
residence of the adopted child will monitor the child’s evolution
and the
personal relations between the latter and the adoptive parents, at least for the
two years following the adoption. The specialized
public services or the
private organizations involved must submit regular reports on the evolution of
the child (art. 12, para. 2).
- According
to article 9, paragraph 3, the Commission for Child Protection may
also entrust a child for adoption to a person or family
who does not have
Romanian citizenship but whose place of residence has been on the territory of
Romania for at least six months.
The custody procedure will last for a period
of at least three months and will be determined by the Commission for Child
Protection
(art. 9, para. 6). During this period, the respective
family/person will be under the surveillance of the relevant specialized public
service or authorized private service.
- According
to article 6, paragraphs 3 and 4, the Commission for Child Protection will
release the certificate of authorized adopter
on the basis of the reports and
proposals of the specialized child protection public service or authorized
private organization.
Consent
- Regarding
the status of the child in relation to his or her natural parents, in accordance
with article 1, paragraph 4, of the Government’s
Emergency
Ordinance No. 25/1997, the affiliation with the natural parents ceases at
the moment of adoption. For the adoption, it
is necessary to obtain the
authenticated prior consent of the natural parents or, as the case may be, of
only one of them (art. 7,
para. 1 (a)). In the event that a
child’s parents are deceased, unknown, have lost parental authority, have
been placed under
interdiction, declared dead by a legal court, or are otherwise
incapable of expressing their will, as well as in the event that a
child has
been declared legally abandoned by a court sentence which is final and binding,
the natural parents’ consent is no
longer a prerequisite. Should only one
of the parents lose parental authority, be deceased, placed under interdiction,
legally declared
deceased or disappeared or unknown, the other parent’s
consent is sufficient. It is also a prerequisite to obtain the consent
of a
child aged over 10 (art. 7).
The effects of adoption on the rights of the
child
- The
child will acquire by adoption the name of the adopter and will have all the
rights that a natural child has. A new birth certificate
will be issued for the
adopted child, on which the adopters will be recorded as the child’s
natural parents (art. 21). The
adoptive parents will inform the child of the
fact that he or she has been adopted, as soon as his or her age and degree of
maturity
allows (art. 24).
Intercountry adoption
- The
Romanian Committee for Adoptions is in charge of fulfilling the obligations
stipulated by the Convention on the Protection of
Children in Respect of
Intercountry Adoption, concluded in The Hague on 29 May 1993 and ratified by
Romania by means of Law No. 84/1994.
A request for international adoption
must be forwarded to the Committee via the central child protection authority
operating in
the State of the adopters or a private organization authorized by
it, and by the Romanian Committee for Adoptions. The request must
be
accompanied by a document issued by the foreign authorities which should state
the guarantees for the minor’s entry and
right to live within the
respective State, for the legal acceptance of the adoption, as well as for the
monitoring of the minor’s
post-adoption evolution. Attached to the
request will also be the report of the psychosocial investigation performed by
the relevant
foreign authorities, as well as a document issued by the same
authorities which should state that the person or family concerned
is fit to
adopt, in accordance with the provisions of the foreign county’s national
laws.
- The
parent, legal guardian, custodian or third party facilitating the adoption
demanding or receiving money or any other benefits
in exchange for the adoption
will be punished by imprisonment (art. 26).
- The
Romanian Committee for Adoptions, with the assistance of the Romanian diplomatic
representative offices, will act with respect
to the relevant authorities of the
State whose citizen has adopted a Romanian child such that the child will
benefit from all corresponding
guarantees and provisions as deemed valid for an
adoption concluded on the territory of Romania.
- The
evolution of national and intercountry adoptions is presented
below:
Date
|
Number of national adoptions
|
Number of intercountry adoptions
|
December 1994
|
2 792
|
2 038
|
December 1995
|
2 389
|
1 789
|
December 1996
|
1 005
|
1 315
|
December 1997
|
No records available
|
851
|
December 1998
|
840
|
2 017
|
Source: DCP-EU/PHARE Bridging Programme.
- As
at the end of 1998, the Romanian Committee for Adoptions had issued more
than 8,000 certificates relating to adoption.
G. Non-compliance with decisions relating to the child (art.
11)
- According
to the provisions of article 307 of the Penal Code, a parent’s act of
retaining his or her minor child without the
consent of the other parent or of
the person to whom the child has been entrusted by a legal decision will be
punished by one to
three months’ imprisonment, or by a fine. The same
article also refers to situations in which the person to whom the child
has been
entrusted systematically obstructs the personal relations and direct contacts of
the child with the natural parents, such
as agreed by the parties or by the
competent authority. The punishment for such offence is the same. In both
cases, prosecution
will be initiated upon the prejudiced party’s
submitting a complaint, and the reconciliation of the parties will dissolve any
penal liability.
- The
Penal Code also refers, within the provisions of article 189, to the offence of
illegally depriving a person of his or her right
to personal freedom, the
punishment for this offence being one to five years’ imprisonment. In the
event that the victim is
a minor, the law stipulates an increase of the
punishment to 5-12 years’ imprisonment.
- To
guarantee the enforcement of the decisions taken by the Commission for Child
Protection for the children in difficulty, the latest
legislation (Emergency
Ordinance No. 26/1997) stipulates, in article 33, that these decisions are
executory and should there be any
resistance to their execution, the relevant
police inspectorate will be notified with a view to carrying out its execution.
These
provisions are applicable to childcare both within families and within
placement centres.
H. Abuse and neglect (art. 19)
- The
Constitution includes a provision according to which children and the young
shall enjoy special protection and assistance in the pursuit of their
rights, as
well as a provision stating that the exploitation of minors or their employment
in activities that might be harmful to
their health or morals or endanger their
life and normal development is prohibited. Article 161 of the Labour Code
stipulates that
employed children shall not be assigned hard or dangerous labour
and that they shall not be employed in night shifts or extended
schedules beyond
their legal work programme.
- The
Penal Code (art. 305) provides sanctions for family abandonment, which is
defined as deserting, discarding or abandoning a helpless
child, thus exposing
him or her to physical or moral distress; such offence will be punished by three
months to two years’
imprisonment or by a fine.
- In
the same category of offences against the family is also the offence provided
under article 306 of the Penal Code - the ill-treatment
of the minor - which
punishes by 2-12 years’ imprisonment the severe jeopardizing of the
physical, intellectual or moral development
of the child by any treatment or
measure of whatever nature enforced by the parents or persons to whom the child
has been entrusted.
Article 184 of the Penal Code stipulates punishment of
three months to two years’ imprisonment for deliberate bodily
harm.
- Articles
314, 315 and 316 of the Penal Code provide a list of the offences against
vulnerable persons, as well as the relevant
punishments:
(a) The act of deliberately jeopardizing a
disabled person by the person in charge of supervising him/her will be punished
by three
months to three years’ imprisonment;
(b) The act of leaving in any way helpless, of failing to offer the
necessary assistance or to notify the relevant authorities committed
by someone
who has found a person whose life, health or bodily integrity is jeopardized and
who is unable to rescue him- or herself
will be punished by one month to one
year’s imprisonment or by a fine;
(c) The act of leaving a person
in any way helpless by failure to notify the authorities committed by someone
who finds an abandoned
or lost person who requires assistance will be punished
by one to six months’ imprisonment or by a fine.
- The
Penal Code also provides for detention for all acts of sexual abuse against
minors (discussed further in chapter VIII).
- The
Government’s Emergency Ordinance No. 26/1997 regarding the protection of
the child in difficulty defines the child in difficulty
as “the child
whose development, security or physical or moral integrity is
jeopardized”. Such children shall enjoy
special protection and
assistance. In the spirit of the ordinance, protection measures for such
children may be taken within a family
environment or in an institutionalized
setting. In exceptional cases, whenever both or only one of the child’s
parents jeopardize
the security, development or moral integrity of their child
by an abusive exercise of their parental rights, or by severe negligence
in
fulfilling parental obligations, the specialized child protection public service
may decide on the immediate separation of the
child from his or her family and
subsequent emergency placement in a specialized centre reporting to such public
service, or belonging
to any authorized private institution, or with a person or
family certified accordingly.
Procedures for the authorities’
intervention
- Any
person who discovers a situation of a nature conducive to jeopardizing the life,
integrity or development of a child shall immediately
notify the specialized
child protection public service, to enable the authorities to determine the
necessary emergency measures to
be taken. The police shall offer such support
as shall be deemed necessary to this effect.
- The
specialized child protection public service will notify the Commission for Child
Protection in the respective area to decide on
the required protection measure.
Once this protection measure has been taken, the Commission will notify the
relevant court to pronounce
the loss of parental rights of one or both of the
parents.
Educational measures
- At
present, there are very few systematic measures conducive to providing adequate
information and education of the population, the
family and public opinion with
respect to the consequences of abuse and violence of whatever nature on the
normal development of
the child. Even in cases of violence exposed in the
media, mere facts would be brought to the attention of the public, deprived
of
any useful comments or educational conclusions relating to the incident. There
are no national programmes focused on issues of
abuse, violence and neglect to
be used in the education of parents or other persons responsible for childcare.
Neglect is not perceived
as a form of abuse and there is no awareness of or
adequate means to combat this phenomenon.
- Some
local NGOs have taken initiatives targeted at informing and educating the public
on matters of abuse, violence and neglect (the
SCOP (“PURPOSE”)
organization in Timisoara, the Copiii Nostri (“Our Children”)
Foundation in Bucharest, the
Foundation Salvati Copiii (“Save the
Children”), etc.).
Procedures for filing complaints
- No
clear procedures are defined for filing a complaint; there is no permanent
service or department to which people might forward
a petition. The only
institutions authorized for emergency interventions in cases of violence and
abuse are the police and the specialized
child protection public service (such
child protection public services are operative in a relatively extensive area,
such as a region,
a county or a district of the capital, i.e. serving some
300,000500,000 inhabitants).
I. Periodic review of placement (art. 25)
- The
Government’s Emergency Ordinance No. 26/1997 promotes measures of redress
for the children institutionalized by virtue of
the superseded Law No. 3/1970
whose confinement within a child protection institution has never been
re-discussed and revised. Article
40 stipulates: (1) Within six months from
the enforcement of this emergency ordinance, the commissions for child
protection will
check and review the protection treatment determined by any
pending decisions of the former commissions for the protection of minors
which
have operated by virtue of Law No. 3/1970 regarding the protection of certain
categories of minors. (2) Upon expiry of the
term provided under paragraph
(1), the decisions of the commissions for the protection of the minors will
cease their applicability.
- According
to the latest legislation, a child who has been placed by the competent
authorities will be supervised by the employees
of the specialized child
protection public service or by “the authorized private organization
having received the child under
its protection”, who will forward reports
and proposals regarding the efficiency of the respective protection treatment to
the Commission for Child Protection on a quarterly basis or upon the
latter’s request (art. 20.g).
- The
Commission for Child Protection shall, by virtue of the legal provisions in
force, reevaluate and review the treatment provided
to the child (art. 21), i.e.
will, in particular:
(a) Check and review, at least quarterly,
the circumstances relevant to the child’s placement, based on the reports
and proposals
forwarded by the specialized child protection public service or
the authorized private organization;
(b) Revoke or replace the
protection measure if the circumstances relevant to the determination of such
measure have changed;
(c) Place the child with another family or person,
or in a specialized child protection public service or authorized private
institution,
should the best interests of the child so
require;
(d) Notify the competent court if the circumstances that gave
rise to the deprivation of parental authority ceased to
exist;
(e) Subject the child’s parents to a minimum 3-month
probationary period in the event of the child’s return to the natural
family environment, to enable the specialized child protection public service to
monitor the parents. The Commission for Child Protection
shall, to this effect,
request fortnightly reports from the public specialized service for child
protection.
- In
relation to the child’s estate and revenues, the Government’s
Emergency Ordinance No. 26/1997 stipulates the following:
the Commission
for Child Protection will analyse, at least once a year, the financial and
accounting statements on the administration
of the child’s assets. Upon
termination of the custody period, the Commission for Child Protection will
analyse the general
report regarding the management of the child’s estate,
subject to which the Commission will decide who shall take over the
financial
administration. Once the child has acquired full legal capacity, he or she will
become the sole right-holder (art. 23/7).
J. Children in difficulty
- We
would like to stress that out of the total number of children aged between 0-18
years, the majority live in a family environment.
This is highly significant in
view of the impact of the media campaign from the beginning of the 1990s which
showed mainly institutionalized
children, thereby groundlessly feeding the idea
that most children in Romania live in institutions. The family represents a
strong
value in Romanian culture and mentality, and is considered the normal and
natural environment for the development of the child.
- The
situations in which minors may be deprived of their family environment are
treated with specificity in Romanian legislation and
administration, depending
on the causes leading to such separation. This report presents information
relative to the following categories
of
children:
(a) Institutionalized children;
(b) Children
placed with families;
(c) Adopted children;
(d) Homeless
children (living in the streets);
(e) Children abandoned in paediatric
hospitals;
(f) Delinquent children confined in re-education schools,
penitentiaries, etc.;
(g) Children from single-parent families:
children born of single mothers, children of divorced parents.
Institutionalized children
- The
total number of children living in institutions and in foster families was
98,872 in June 1997, representing 1.5 per cent of the
minors in Romania.
The great majority of institutionalized children have natural parents. The
number of children who have been
declared abandoned is 3,487, i.e. 1.3 per cent
of the total of institutionalized children. In reality, the number of such
children
is much greater, as 28,938 (i.e. almost one third) of them have not
been visited by their families for more than six months; 1,482
children in
institutions did not even have identity cards (in June 1997).
Number of children placed in protection centres
|
1990
|
1991
|
1992
|
1993
|
1994
|
1995
|
1996
|
- Number
of minors in social assistance institutions:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Crèches
|
8 558
|
8 028
|
7 878
|
8 245
|
10 950
|
8 715
|
8 950
|
Children’s homes
|
25 870
|
2 550
|
22 582
|
23 859
|
30 559
|
28 955
|
30 891
|
Re-education schools
|
635
|
621
|
661
|
832
|
453
|
663
|
831
|
Total
|
35 063
|
34 149
|
31 121
|
32 936
|
41 962
|
38 333
|
40 672
|
- Number
of disabled minors in specialized units:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hospital homes for minors
|
3 354
|
3 617
|
4 204
|
4 349
|
3 940
|
4 586
|
4 180
|
Workshop homes for minors
|
594
|
1 073
|
1 020
|
960
|
678
|
360
|
496
|
Educational homes
|
2 971
|
3 332
|
2 901
|
2 807
|
3 009
|
2 863
|
2 720
|
Total
|
6 919
|
8 022
|
8 125
|
8 116
|
7 627
|
7 809
|
7 349
|
- Number
of disabled minors in specialized schools and educational
institutions
|
43 504
|
45 484
|
42 080
|
42 835
|
46 557
|
51 663
|
51 154
|
- Residential
centres for minors
|
...
|
...
|
6 382
|
7 011
|
8 303
|
6 167
|
784
|
Grand total (A+B+C+D)
|
85 406
|
87 655
|
87 708
|
84 588
|
104 449
|
103 972
|
99 961
|
Source: National Commission for Statistics.
Distribution of children per type of institution in
1997
|
Number of children
|
%
|
Crèche
|
9 309
|
9.4
|
Children’s home
|
35 165
|
35.6
|
Residential centre for minors
|
379
|
0.4
|
Specialized kindergarten
|
1 042
|
1.1
|
Specialized school
|
26 226
|
26.5
|
Specialized vocational school
|
8 885
|
9.0
|
Specialized high school
|
393
|
0.4
|
Specialized education group
|
1 320
|
1.3
|
Distribution of children per type of institution in 1997
(cont’d)
|
Number of children
|
%
|
Specialized education centre
|
4 452
|
4.5
|
Re-education centre
|
1 130
|
1.1
|
Education home
|
2 750
|
2.8
|
Workshop home
|
939
|
0.9
|
Hospital home
|
4 473
|
4.5
|
Other institutions
|
2 439
|
2.5
|
Total
|
98 872
|
100.0
|
Source: DPC-EU Phare Census, 1997.
Institutionalized children, by age group
|
1-2 yrs.
|
3-5 yrs.
|
6-8 yrs.
|
9-11 yrs.
|
12-15 yrs.
|
16-18 yrs.
|
> 18 yrs.
|
Total
|
2 264
|
5 219
|
6 633
|
9 862
|
19 781
|
30 303
|
19 341
|
5 469
|
98 872
|
2.3%
|
5.2%
|
6.7%
|
10.0%
|
20.0%
|
30.7%
|
19.5%
|
5.5%
|
100.0%
|
Source: DPC-EU Phare Census, 1997.
- During
1997, 20,882 children left residential institutions, of whom 9,213 (40 per cent)
returned to their natural families, and the
remaining 60 per cent as
follows:
Children leaving institutions, by destination, 1997
|
Number
|
Percentage
|
Natural family
|
9 213
|
44
|
Adoptive families (national adoptions)
|
241
|
1
|
Adoptive families (intercountry adoptions)
|
1 493
|
7
|
Placement families
|
656
|
3
|
Other institutions
|
5 756
|
28
|
Other destinations
|
3 523
|
17
|
Total
|
20 882
|
100
|
Source: DPC-EU Phare Census, 1997.
- According
to the results obtained by the DPC-EU/Phare Bridging Programme, the evolution of
the number of children living in children’s
homes is as
follows:
December 1995 - 33,129 children;
December 1996 - 33,768 children;
May 1997 (the moment of enforcement of the new legal framework) - 34,288
children;
June 1998 - 32,474 children.
- With
respect to the evolution of the number of children living in nurseries, the
situation was the following:
December 1995 - 8,838 children;
December 1996 - 8,827 children;
May 1997 - 9,309 children;
June 1998 - 8,556 children.
Children placed with a person or family
- Before
the change in the legislative framework for the domain of child protection,
11,081 children had been placed, the great majority
of them with their
extended family, which would not receive any State support and whose files were
not subject to further reviews
until the child’s coming of age (18).
After 12 July 1997, according to the provisions of Emergency Ordinance No.
26/1997,
these decisions have been subjected to re-evaluation and review. In
accordance with the new legislative framework, all families/persons
accepting
custody of a child are entitled to a State allowance, irrespective of whether
they are blood relatives. In addition, the
legislation has introduced a new
element for the Romanian child protection system: the child’s placement
with a professional
maternal assistant, the final goal being to create a
well-constituted network of such persons, who are subjected to specialized
evaluation,
training and subsequent certification, as a genuine alternative to
the residential childcare system. On 30 June 1998, there were
already 229
persons certified as professional maternal assistants.
- According
to the latest analyses on the status of the reform in June 1998, the number of
children protected through placement measures
rose from 11,081 in 1997 to 44,171
in 1998 in the context where:
− The number of applications for support submitted to the specialized
public services increased by 12 per cent in June 1998
as compared to the same
period of 1997 due to the continuous erosion of socio-economic
conditions;
− The number of institutionalized children dropped from 98,872 in May 1997
to 91,785 in June 1998;
− Of 44,679 new cases in the system (after June 1997), the new public
services decided on the institutionalization of 8,514
children, while the
remaining 36,165 children were protected within their own families or substitute
families.
Adopted children
- The
situation of adopted children is dealt with in section F of the present
chapter.
Homeless children
- These
are children deprived of a family environment or whose relationship with their
families is very precarious as they live practically
in the streets. Despite
the difficulties in keeping track of homeless children, it is estimated that
their number is around 4,300
of whom some 2,000 are permanently in the street
while the rest go back to their families at night or in
wintertime.
- A
study by Save the Children shows that 71 per cent of the homeless children come
from families, 23 per cent from children’s
homes and 6 per cent have
always lived in the streets; 42 per cent claim they come from
organized families, 35 per cent from single-parent
families. The degree of
education is very low: 45 per cent of the interviewed children have finished
less than four grades, 35
per cent 5-8 grades, 20 per cent have never been to
school. The distribution by age group shows that the majority (over 38 per
cent)
are aged 14-18, 35 per cent are aged 1113, 15 per cent are aged 7-10,
and some 5 per cent are under 6.
- As
for the family ties, only 40 per cent of the interviewed cases claim they still
have relations with their family, 24 per cent claim
they no longer have any ties
with their families, 15 per cent that they never had any such ties,
while the rest refused to answer.
As regards the quality of the family ties,
6.8 per cent of the interviewed children claimed they have very good family
relationships,
25.9 per cent have good relationships, 67 per cent say their
relations with their families are very bad or they refuse to
answer.
Children abandoned in hospitals
- The
real number of such children is not yet known. A study is currently under way
to find out the extent of this phenomenon which
was always a handy solution for
families who want to rid themselves of their children. The phenomenon has
flourished in recent years
as a result of the pauperization of the population.
In paediatric wards, children receive practically no guidance or education,
except for strictly medical care. Often the identity of the children and their
families is unknown, as the families use false names
and addresses when they
bring the children in. With the modification of the legislative framework and
the establishment of specialized
public services for the protection of the
child, this phenomenon began to recede as the social workers aim primarily at
identifying
these children and their families and look for the best solutions to
protect them. Whenever the identity of the children cannot
be established, the
priority is to register them and to initiate the process of providing shelter
and protection.
Delinquent children
- These
children are usually disconnected from their family relationships as they are
placed in reeducation institutions, penitentiaries,
etc. For the children under
14, educational measures apply which can include placement in a re-education
school, which is administratively
run by the Ministry of National Education.
Imprisonment is in adult prisons, in separate sections. There are no judges
specially
trained and appointed for cases involving minors alone, nor are there
prosecutors specializing in investigations of juvenile delinquents. The
legal hearing of minor defendants is in closed chambers.
Parents are always
invited. The minor is assisted by a lawyer and if the minor or the
minor’s family cannot afford to pay
for a lawyer, one is appointed
ex officio. The number of children involved in legal conflicts is slightly
rising: +6 per cent between
1996-1997.
- The
situation of the children in re-education centres is far better than that of the
children in penitentiaries. Apart from better
accommodation, food and hygiene,
re-education centres also run educational programmes and cultural and sporting
activities suitable
to the children’s ages, with qualified personnel. The
situation of children in penitentiaries is very precarious, with insufficient
living space, no genuine educational programmes and insufficient qualified
staff.
- In
both cases, there is a lack of structures and a shortage of certain categories
of qualified personnel (such as social workers,
psychologists,
psycho-pedagogues) to look after the reeducation and family and social
integration of the minors and the preparation
of the family to take the minor
back.
Type of penalty
|
1991
|
1993
|
1994
|
1995
|
1996
|
Minors sentenced as % of all sentenced persons
|
6.2
|
8.3
|
9.5
|
9.6
|
10.0
|
Number of minors with final and binding sentences of whom:
|
3 784
|
6 940
|
9 121
|
9 783
|
10 377
|
Entrusted to the working or educational community
|
712
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Sent to special labour and reeducation schools
|
3 072
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Fined
|
-
|
164
|
309
|
407
|
447
|
Imprisoned
|
-
|
1 772
|
4 167
|
4 557
|
4 677
|
Whose penalty execution has been suspended on parole
|
-
|
263
|
824
|
1 596
|
1 907
|
Subjected to educational measures
|
-
|
4 741
|
3 821
|
3 223
|
3 346
|
Source: National Commission for Statistics.
Children from single-parent families
- Most
children (over 80 per cent) are born within marriage. In recent years, however,
the number of children born out of wedlock rose
from 15 per cent in 1992 to 20.2
per cent in 1996. This phenomenon is nevertheless less extensive in Romania
than in other European
countries (25.8 per cent in Bulgaria, 47.6 per
cent in Norway, 59.9 per cent in Sweden, 33.6 per cent in England), which
reflects
the traditional role played by the family institution in this
country.
Number of children born to single mothers, 1992-1996
|
Overall successful births
|
Successful births outside marriage
|
%
|
1992
|
260 393
|
39 059
|
15.0
|
1993
|
249 994
|
42 492
|
17.0
|
1994
|
246 736
|
45 125
|
18.3
|
1995
|
236 640
|
46 732
|
19.8
|
1996
|
231 348
|
47 919
|
20.7
|
Source: National Commission for Statistics.
- Most
of the children born out of wedlock are from the rural areas (59% in 1996). The
rising number of children born out of wedlock
leads to the growth of
single-parent families with special problems, which involves the need for social
assistance.
- More
than half the marriages ending in divorce involve one (47 per cent) or more
minors at the time of the divorce. The number of
children whose parents
divorced was 26,800 in 1996.
Number of children affected by divorce, 1992-1996
|
No. divorces
|
Without children
|
1 child
|
2 children
|
3 children
|
4 or more children
|
No. children whose parents divorced (thousands)
|
1992
|
29 290
|
13 566
|
9 737
|
4 648
|
925
|
414
|
23.6
|
1993
|
31 193
|
16 312
|
9 701
|
4 100
|
740
|
340
|
21.6
|
1994
|
39 663
|
17 172
|
14 672
|
6 089
|
1 220
|
510
|
32.8
|
1995
|
34 906
|
16 031
|
12 561
|
4 922
|
938
|
454
|
27.2
|
1996
|
35 586
|
16 808
|
12 653
|
4 802
|
939
|
384
|
26.8
|
Source: National Commission for Statistics.
VI. BASIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
A. Survival and development (art. 6, para. 2)
- The
obligation of the parents to secure the up-bringing and care of the child is one
of the important elements in the child’s
survival and development,
something we have tried to highlight in chapter V. That is where we also
mentioned the programmes of social
protection and the rights of the parents in
achieving the right of the child to survival and development, additional details
being
offered in the present chapter. We have also mentioned the types of
services for child protection that offer necessary assistance
to the parents or
assume care of the child when parents are incapable of ensuring it themselves.
Medical services complement this
picture and also bring a vital contribution to
materializing the right of the child to survival and development as stipulated
in
the Convention. The present chapter provides further details regarding this
issue.
- The
promotion of the right of the child to survival and development also involves
measures to fight traffic accidents involving children/adolescents,
which have
lately been increasing as follows:
Year
|
No. of accidents
|
1993
|
1 277
|
1994
|
1 250
|
1995
|
1 213
|
1996
|
1 083
|
1997
|
1 049
|
1998
|
892 (in 11 months)
|
- The
above figures led to measures to fight these accidents and to better protect the
victims. The Department of Traffic Police within
the General Police
Inspectorate, in cooperation with the Ministry of National Education, has
elaborated a Guide on traffic education
for students, which is periodically
revised to reflect changes in the traffic code and to improve the quality of the
educational
process. To improve the theoretical learning of the code, each year
mass traffic competitions are organized within the school system.
Periodically,
the Inter-Ministerial Council for Traffic Safety analyses the traffic education
of children and establishes objectives,
measures and specific actions within the
strategy of traffic prevention.
- The
Institute for Research in Transportation (INCERTRANS) is designing a study
(1999) regarding the level of children’s involvement
in traffic accidents;
the results will be used to improve circulation and safety on public roads for
this category of person.
- Road
safety for children is also secured by special signals on public roads
frequented by children (schools, playgrounds, etc.) as
follows: special warning
indicators (“Children” signs), road axis marking with a continuous
line on the road portion
between the two “Children” indicators to
prevent overtaking, pedestrian crossing markings also preceded and followed
by a
continuous line.
- Also
aimed at the exercise of the right of the child to survival and development, the
Office for Consumer Protection, a specialized
body of the central public
administration, is in charge of coordinating and carrying out the policy of the
Government in regard to
the protection of the life, health and safety of
consumers and their special interests. Government Ordinance No. 23/1992, a
fundamental
law in this field, guarantees the active promotion of the rights and
interests of consumers, including children.
- In
protecting child consumers, the Office for Consumer Protection runs regular
checks at regional and national levels of the living
and eating arrangements in
crèches, kindergartens, children’s homes, school semi-dormitories
and dormitories, as well
as of the security and safety of games and toys for
children. Verifications are also run on the identifying and characterizing
elements
of products for children, their instructions and conditions for use,
security conditions, and the risks in the case of non-compliance
with mandatory
rules stipulated by the legislation in force.
B. Children with special needs (art. 23)
- The
situation and solution to the specific problems of children with physical and
mental disabilities are the object of the Government’s
policy and the
explicit aim of over 100 active NGOs, components of the civil society militating
for addressing and observing their
rights.
- The
strategy in the field designed by the State Secretariat for Disabled Persons and
debated by the Government includes the following
objectives:
− Reducing birth defects by at least 20 per cent by the year
2002;
− Integrating disabled children in the regular education system by up to
at least 20 per cent by the year 2002 and by 50 per
cent by
2005;
− Developing recovery and rehabilitation centres such that by the year
2002 all disabled children have access to these centres
for individual
programmes of recovery and social integration;
− Decreasing the number of disabled children and increasing the number of
disabled children who are protected through adoption
and family
placement;
− Developing a network of day centres with a national intake of at least
2,000 by the year 2003.
- The
funds allocated by the Romanian Government through the SSPH (State Secretariat
for the Disabled) for the rights, services and
facilities for children with
special needs in 1998 were distributed according to the following types of
expenditures:
− State allowance for the disabled children (double that for regular
children): 82 billion lei;
− Salary for the medical assistance staff: 148 billion
lei;
− Urban transportation gratuity: 21 billion
lei.
Additional expenditures are involved to ensure training
in special schools and medical assistance and recovery activities.
- On
the legislative level, the rights of the children with special needs are
guaranteed by the Romanian Constitution, and the State has the obligation to
design and implement a national policy for the prevention, treatment,
readaptation, education
and social integration of disabled persons, while
observing the parents’ rights and obligations. This fundamental law also
acknowledges the necessity of providing for special protection for disabled
persons, and it underlines the fact that by virtue of
their rights, children
must benefit from special care and assistance.
- Less
than a year after the promulgation of the Constitution, the rights of children
with special needs and the measures benefiting them were included in Law No.
53/1992 on the special protection
of disabled persons. After five years of
implementation, the estimation is that the provisions of this law largely
correspond to
the specific needs of disabled children.
- The
law on the special protection of disabled children includes specific provisions
which are meant to gradually remove the architectural,
administrative,
transportation, educational, economic and social barriers and to gradually build
an environment in which disabled
children are accepted among children of the
same age group, in which they should be involved in similar activities and which
should
facilitate their insertion into the life of the
community.
- As
an addition to the specific laws, in 1995, the Law on National Education and the
Rules and Regulations for the Organization and
Operation of Specialized
Education stipulated the rights of disabled children of pre-school and school
age to a regular as well as
a specialized education.
- The
legal framework is meant to guarantee a decent life for disabled children,
respect for their dignity and their relative autonomy,
but the enforcement of
the legal provisions is hindered by the mentality of certain members of the
community, and very often by the
mentality of parents, authorities, and even
teachers. It is difficult to assess how long it will take to solve this
problem, since
it involves sensitizing the community to this issue and fostering
favourable and supportive attitudes towards those in difficulty.
Nevertheless,
the number of disabled children integrated into the normal educational system
has been increasing, with the exception
of HIVpositive
children.
- The
access to educational, health and functional recovery services is increasingly
wider, as the number of specialized public or private
institutions has increased
and the services have diversified. During the past four years, through the
efforts made by the State
and by the organizations of the civil society, the
number of ambulatory or home services has increased, and the number of
hospitalized
patients or hospitalization days has decreased.
- Educational
services as well as preventive medical care and treatment and recovery services
are free of charge. Schoolchildren with
special needs integrated into the
ordinary education system benefit from medical grants, irrespective of their
performance in school.
- The
identification and assessment of physical and mental challenges fall under the
responsibility of the territorial commissions made
up of professionals. These
commissions also develop and recommend the recovery plan, and identify the
institutions and services
that should secure the readaptation and subsequent
integration of the disabled children into the community. However, their
recommendations
are not always followed.
- The
training of the personnel specializing in special education, recovery and social
assistance is in colleges and universities, but
the number of annual graduates
does not cover the actual needs. Their training is based on seminars,
workshops, scientific sessions,
domestic or international study tours, as well
as on grants to developed countries. The cost of the training is supported by
the
Government and by various projects developed under the PHARE programme, by
non-governmental organizations and by the UNICEF office
in Bucharest.
- The
authorities concerned with securing decent living conditions for disabled
children and with initiating specific measures in connection
therewith are the
State Secretariat for the Disabled, the Ministry of Public Health, The Ministry
of National Education, the Ministry
of Labour and Social Protection, and the
Child Protection Department. Locally, the institutions that have general or
specific responsibilities
to initiate various measures or to provide services
within specialized institutional or non-institutional contexts are the local
commissions within city halls, and the decentralized offices dealing with
health, social protection and the rights of the child.
- The
past five years have witnessed the development of the assistance and counselling
services provided to families with disabled children
and of educational and
recovery alternatives, including the services provided at home to children who
cannot move, with a view to
avoiding their isolation and to integrating them
into the society, as much as possible.
- Non-governmental
organizations established at the initiative of parents with disabled children
have played an increasingly important
role. Such associations, most of which
were set up after 1990, have gained expertise and have developed projects and
activities
that have been really useful for children affected by various
diseases or disabilities, and they have consequently become genuine
partners of
the public administration system.
- From
among the NGOs that have developed projects or programmes for disabled children,
special note should be made of the following:
the Association for the Support
of the Physically Challenged Children in Romania (ASCHF), the TREBUIE
(“It’s a Must”)
organization for children and adults with
special needs, the Romanian Association for the Mentally Challenged, Save the
Children,
the Our Children Foundation, the SERA Foundation, ARAS, the
Association of the Blind, the Association of the Deaf, the Organization
of the
Romanian Orphanages “For Our Children”, the Ratiu Foundation for
Children and Young People Affected by Leukaemia.
- Between
1994 and1997, on an annual basis, over 80,000 children with various disabilities
have benefited from protection, education,
treatment and recovery within various
residential or open institutions, public or private, as
follows:
Year
|
1994
|
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
Total
|
82 006
|
89 453
|
87 463
|
86 034
|
Hospital homes
|
3 940
|
4 586
|
4 180
|
4 025
|
Educational homes
|
3 009
|
2 863
|
2 720
|
2 846
|
Specialized nurseries
|
2 741
|
2 137
|
1 727
|
1 042
|
Specialized primary schools
|
28 783
|
32 188
|
32 577
|
32 680
|
Specialized vocational schools
|
13 461
|
13 455
|
13 186
|
13 105
|
Specialized high schools
|
713
|
778
|
653
|
782
|
Special education and recovery centres
|
639
|
2 905
|
2 161
|
1 028
|
Curative education and social therapy centres
|
220
|
200
|
252
|
263
|
Centres of social, medical, and educational services provided at home to
children with severe disabilities
|
-
|
-
|
63
|
98
|
Workshop homes
|
318
|
341
|
338
|
360
|
Special re-education schools and preventive education centres
|
453
|
663
|
831
|
1 158
|
Educational services provided at home
|
16
|
31
|
33
|
48
|
Centres for dystrophic children
|
3 342
|
2 829
|
2 682
|
2 559
|
Centres for infantile neuro-psychiatry
|
18 366
|
19 655
|
19 606
|
|
HIV centres
|
3 136
|
3 727
|
2 605
|
2 513
|
Day care centres, centres for recovery, curative education and social
therapy, and for other services provided at home by NGOs
|
2 887
|
3 012
|
3 800
|
3 921
|
- In
1998, the total number of disabled children registered by local State
inspectorates for the disabled throughout the territory of
Romania amounted to
61,291, of whom 57,798 were noninstitutionalized children and 3,493 were
institutionalized. If the number of
institutionalized children transferred to
other health units or who were on leave with their families is added to this
number, the
total figure would amount to 61,378 disabled
children.
- The
table below shows the distribution of disabled children by age groups in
1998
Age group
|
Non-institutionalized children (%)
|
Institutionalized children (%)
|
% of all children
|
0-3 years
|
6.88
|
0.04
|
6.92
|
3-7 years
|
14.56
|
0.68
|
15.24
|
7-11 years
|
23.92
|
1.57
|
25.49
|
11-15 years
|
24.48
|
1.74
|
26.22
|
15-17 years
|
14.27
|
1.03
|
15.30
|
17-18 years
|
10.20
|
0.63
|
11.83
|
Total
|
94.30
|
5.70
|
100
|
Source: SSPH Statistical Report.
- Apart
from these, 21,739 children with severe disabilities are attended at home by
specialized employees (personal assistants). Special
efforts are made for the
training of such employees in medical, educational and social fields, with a
view to securing adequate assistance
that should meet the needs of such
children.
- Comparing
1997 with 1998, one sees an increase of 8.5 per cent in the number of
noninstitutionalized disabled children and a slight
decrease in the number of
institutionalized children from 3,656 in 1997 to 3,493 at the end of 1998.
- Specialized
institutions focus more and more on medical, educational, and social recovery,
with a view to an ad hoc or subsequent
integration of the children with special
needs into the life of the community.
- The
main constraints on the modalities of improving the situation of children with
special needs are generated by the low level of
funding provided by an
austerity budget, by the lack of specialized personnel, especially of personnel
attending to and supervising
children with severe disabilities on a permanent
basis, as well as by the attitude towards the genuine potential of these
children
when exposed to early specialized programmes of complex social, medical
and psychoeducational recovery.
Legislative initiatives on the protection of children with
special needs
- During
the Government’s meeting on 24 June 1999, the State Secretariat for the
Disabled (SSPH) defended the draft Emergency
Ordinance on the special care and
employment of disabled persons, which was meant to complete the legal framework
and to eliminate
any discrimination. Under chapter IV, section I, this draft
lists the rights of the disabled children as follows:
(a) Free
and equal access to any ordinary educational institution, depending on the
recovery potential, in accordance with the legal
provisions in the field of
education;
(b) Education at home for the disabled children who cannot
move, during the mandatory education period provided by the
law;
(c) State allowance for disabled children under the terms and in
the amount provided by the law, and increased by 100 per
cent;
(d) Living allowance for disabled children placed in a foster
family or entrusted to a person or authorized private organization,
in the
amount provided by the law, and increased by 50 per cent;
(e) A
personal assistant for each child with severe disabilities;
(f) Free
annual vacations for disabled children, and in accordance with the agreements
concluded between the SSPH and the Ministry
of National Education.
- The
person caring for, supervising and maintaining a disabled child has the
following rights:
(a) Paid vacation for caring for a disabled
child until the child turns 3;
(b) Medical leaves for caring for
severely disabled children who need treatment until the child turns
18;
(c) Free hotel services for the member of the family accompanying
the child for treatment.
- According
to the law, children who need special care fall into several categories,
according to certain criteria which define slight
disabilities, medium
disabilities, marked disabilities, and severe disabilities. These categories
are confirmed in a certificate
to be issued by the Commissions for the Medical
Examination of the Disabled, which is subordinate to the SSPH. Once they issue
a
certificate for a particular category of disability, the Commissions are under
the obligation to develop an individual recovery and
social integration
programme. In order to develop such a programme the Commissions shall consult
the disabled person or the persons
who maintain that person, as well as the
experts in various fields. SSPH and the central and local public authorities
are under
an obligation to secure the environment required for the
implementation of the individual recovery and social integration programme,
in
accordance with the legal provisions in force and within the limits of their
resources.
- Among
the programmes initiated and coordinated by the SSPH in 1999 and which are
relevant for the special care of children with special
needs, particular note
should be made of the following:
(a) The programme for the
prevention of disabilities in families or social environments with a high risk
of having disabled children;
(b) The programme for the monitoring,
guidance and employment of the disabled persons graduating from special
schools;
(c) The programme for the prevention of abandonment in families
with disabled children;
(d) The programme for the creation of special
care units and jobs;
(e) The programme for transferring the institutions
for the protection of the disabled from rural areas to cities that are county
capitals or other municipalities.
C. General issues concerning health care of children in
Romania
- In
Romania, the public health assistance is provided, according to Law No.100/
1998, by the Ministry of Public Health, through its
own or other private
specialized units, with the observance of the legal provisions in
force.
- Public
health assistance includes the activities that are carried out for the
prevention of diseases and for the preservation of public
health through
national public health programmes. Curative medical assistance is provided
within a more general system of social
assistance for health.
- Public
health assistance is guaranteed by the State and is financed out of the State
budget. Curative medical assistance is financed
out of the budget of
social assistance for health (Law No. 145/1997), which provides free of charge
services and medication for children
suffering from any affliction, within the
limits of existing funds.
- The
sanitary system in Romania is shown below:
THE GOVERNMENT
MINISTRY OF PUBLIC HEALTH
MINISTRY OF
HEALTH
PUBLIC HEALTH DIVISION
Hospitals
Tuberculosis sanatoriums
Preventive
medicine centres
Medical
centres
Diagnosis and treatment centres
Source: Ministry of Health.
- The
system includes 3,970 local medical centres, 416 hospitals (166,411 beds),
13 tuberculosis sanatoriums (4,245 beds) and 14 tuberculosis
prevention
centres (1,618 beds); the system also includes 464 crèches with 28,590
beds for pre-school children (0-3 years).
- The
Division for Assistance Programmes for Women and Children within the Ministry of
Health is mainly concerned with the coordination
of medical assistance for
mothers and children. The needs of these two categories have been assessed and
a National Programme for
Family Planning and for the Protection of the Mother
and Child Health has been developed. This programme focuses on the supervision
of the health condition of pregnant women and on decreasing the infant rate
morality. The main objectives of the programme are the
following:
(a) To develop a strategy for the supervision of the
health condition of pregnant women at the level of primary assistance and
specialized
assistance;
(b) To assess the specific predominant risks
leading to infant mortality at the level of primary and specialized assistance;
to develop
feasible proposals for the decrease in or avoidance of infant
mortality;
(c) To render health and family planning services more
efficient and to expand the population base for specific services.
- There
are also 26 other national health programmes developed by the Ministry of
Public Health which are focused on children’s
health problems,
especially for chronic diseases, irrespective of the age.
- According
to the statistics published by the Ministry of Public Health,
in 1997, 29,033,800 medical consultations for children took
place,
16,970,300 treatments for children, 4,705,100 vaccinations and
revaccinations, and the number of hospitalized children was
713,392.
Such information and services were offered by 10,987 paediatricians, with an
average of 395 children per doctor (including
doctors in local medical centres
and the clinic paediatricians) and 558 inhabitants per doctor,
respectively.
- In
order to facilitate and stimulate the relations between parents and children, in
the event that a child requires hospitalization
for a long or short period,
parents have been allowed to be hospitalized as well as accompanying persons in
the event of an emergency,
when a baby is being breastfed, or in case a child
otherwise requires the presence of the parent. Throughout the hospitalization
period, education is provided jointly by hospitals and county school
inspectorates, either within the hospital or in the kindergartens
and schools in
the immediate vicinity of the hospital. In addition, NGOs have fitted up
playgrounds for children who need prolonged
hospitalization.
- Apart
from the national health programmes, the Ministry of Public Health is involved
in securing adequate health for children, together
with the Institute for the
Protection of Mothers and Children “Alfred Rusescu”. Among the
programmes run by the latter,
in cooperation with UNICEF, mention should be made
of the nutritional programmes for children under 5 years of
age:
− The National Programme for the Nutritional Supervision of children under
5;
− The child-friendly hospital programme, carried out in many maternity
centres in the country;
− The analysis of the nutritional conditions of children in crèches
(mainly the prevalence of anaemia) which has led
to important practical
conclusions regarding the nursing of institutionalized
children;
− The release and publication in 1998 of certain protocols for child
nursing (nutrition, rickets, anaemia, diarrhoea, respiratory
infections of
infants).
D. Health care in schools
- According
to Order No. 512/1995, issued by the Minister of Public Health, medical care in
primary schools and in high schools in urban
areas is provided by the school
medical network made up of medical doctors, dentists and sanitary agents. This
personnel operates
in medical and dental consulting rooms placed within the
educational institution. In the rural areas, medical care of pupils is
provided
by local medical centres.
- Subsequent
to the short-term implementation of Law No. 145/1997 regarding social and
medical insurance, the medical assistance in
primary schools and high schools
shall be provided according to regulations which are currently under
development. Currently, the
school medical
network has a reduced number of employees, which calls for urgent measures
for the optimization of this network. Such measures are
stipulated within the
framework of Emergency Ordinance No. 972/1995. The statistics published by the
Ministry of Public Health show
that in 1997, 48 student medical centres, 3
student hospitals with 185 beds, and 3 student prevention centres with 220 beds
were
operational.
- The
medical personnel employed in the school medical network carry out the following
types of activities:
(a) Educational health courses, including
sex and reproductive education;
(b) Training of educational and
administrative staff regarding sanitary and hygienic
measures;
(c) Conferences for teachers and pupils;
(d) Involving
schools in programmes such as “Schools Promoting
Health”;
(e) Involving families in health education activities,
especially for the prevention of drug, tobacco and alcohol
consumption;
(f) Organization of various shows and contests on health
problems;
(g) Training for sanitary groups with a view to providing
first aid.
- To
the above, one can add other responsibilities of the medical personnel in
schools which are mainly prophylactic: health examinations,
epidemiological
tests after vacations, epidemiological supervision of schools, the
identification, isolation and diagnosis of infectious
diseases, monitoring of
the observance of hygienic norms, etc.
E. The health condition of children
- The
evolution of the health condition of children in recent years may be
characterized by the following:
(a) There is a rising tendency
of premature birth among children who were born alive, from 2.3-2.4 per
cent in 1994 to 3.8 per cent
in 1996;
(b) The ratio of premature birth
of children under 2,500 g increased from about 7 per cent between
1980 and 1990 to 9 per cent in
1996 (even to 10.9 per cent in 1993).
- The
number of babies born alive, by certain characteristics, is shown
below:
Year
|
Number of babies born alive
|
Of which
|
Under 2 500 g
|
(%)
|
Born to mothers under 20
|
%
|
Born out of wedlock
|
(%)
|
1994
|
246 736
|
21 255
|
8.6
|
44 229
|
17.9
|
45 125
|
18.3
|
1995
|
236 640
|
20 807
|
8.8
|
40 829
|
17.3
|
46 732
|
19.8
|
1996
|
231 348
|
20 586
|
9.0
|
37 962
|
16.4
|
47 919
|
20.7
|
1997
|
236 891
|
21 746
|
9.2
|
36 599
|
18.7
|
52 692
|
22.2
|
1998
|
237 297
|
21 260
|
8.96
|
35 641
|
15.02
|
54 507
|
22.97
|
- From
the point of view of the medical assistance offered at birth, 1 per cent of the
children born alive in 1996 were not assisted
at birth by medical personnel (as
compared to about 2 per cent during 1985-1990). The lack of medical
assistance at birth was more
frequent in the rural areas than in the urban
areas, due to difficulties in accessing the specialized sanitary
network.
- The
nutrition of infants has caused increased mortality. Mortality is also due to
infectious and parasitic diseases, to tuberculosis,
and even neoplasm (mainly
leukaemia).
- Another
negative tendency for the age group 0-17 years is the increase of the number of
cases of tuberculosis, especially during the
past few years. In 1996, there
were about 22 children aged between 0-14 suffering from tuberculosis for every
100,000 children in
the same age group, which represents an increase of over 200
per cent as compared to a decade ago.
- An
increase in mortality due to certain diseases affecting children under 3 has
been noticed, despite the fact that in Romania the
level of immunization of
children against childhood diseases is relatively high:
Vaccination of children between 1 and 2 years, 1990-1996
(%)
|
|
1991
|
1992
|
1993
|
1994
|
1995
|
1996
|
Diphtheria
|
75.5
|
77.3
|
86.8
|
97.6
|
97.6
|
98.3
|
98.0
|
Polio
|
80.5
|
83.5
|
92.5
|
90.7
|
91.0
|
94.6
|
96.8
|
Rubella
|
93.0
|
87.6
|
90.2
|
90.2
|
90.1
|
93.8
|
94.5
|
- The
higher level of incidence of certain diseases in children (especially those
under 5) is mainly due to malnutrition and to a lower
degree of availability of
medical care, especially in rural areas.
F. Child mortality by age group/maternal mortality
Infant mortality
- The
following table indicates the main factors that characterize the tendency of the
infant mortality rate (the number of deaths of
infants under 1 for every 1,000
infants born alive):
Indicator
|
1994
|
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
Number of infant deaths
|
5 894
|
5 027
|
5 158
|
5 209
|
4 868
|
Infant mortality
|
23.9
|
21.2
|
22.3
|
22.0
|
20.5
|
Neonatal mortality
|
9.3
|
9.4
|
8.8
|
9.3
|
9.4
|
Post-neonatal mortality
|
14.6
|
11.8
|
13.5
|
12.7
|
11.1
|
- Even
though the number of deaths during the first year of life has decreased in
Romania during the past few years, the rates of infant
mortality are still high
as compared to other European countries.
- During
1994-1996, infant mortality decreased due to a reduction in post-neonatal
mortality. The neonatal mortality rate registered
a rising tendency after 1990,
due mainly to an increase in precocious mortality (during the first week of
life). The main causes
of the latter are perinatal death and congenital
anomalies (as a positive tendency, the increase in neonatal mortality rate has
been
statistically matched by a decrease in post-neonatal
mortality).
- Although,
as a general tendency, the number of boys born is larger than the number of
girls (106 boys for every 100 girls), mortality
affects boys to a larger extent
from the very moment of their birth. There are, in general, 125 deaths among
boys for every 100
deaths among girls.
- Unlike
in certain European countries, where mortality mainly occurs during the first
month of life (because of perinatal causes and
congenital anomalies), in Romania
infant mortality is caused mainly by diseases of the respiratory system, which
affect infants under
1 in rural areas twice as often as in urban areas.
However, there has been a decreasing tendency during the last seven years (by
one fifth as compared to 1990). Bronchial pneumonia is the main cause of death
(more than 40 per cent), followed by perinatal causes
and congenital
anomalies.
- More
favourable tendencies are registered for under-1 mortality, caused by infectious
and parasitic diseases of the digestive tract
and by accidents.
Mortality rate among 1- to 4-year-olds
- For
the age group 1-4, mortality (number of deaths for every 1,000 children in the
same age group) is mainly due to accidents, poisoning
and other external causes,
followed by diseases of the respiratory tract. These two causes cover over 60
per cent of the deaths
within this age group.
Mortality rate among children 1-4, by main causes of death
(1994-1996)
for every 100,000 born alive
Cause of death
|
1994
|
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
Total
|
132
|
118
|
124
|
110
|
105
|
of which:
|
|
|
|
|
|
Infectious and parasitic diseases
|
14.0
|
7.1
|
5.3
|
6.95
|
3.55
|
Diseases of the respiratory tract
|
32.2
|
27.7
|
33.9
|
31.36
|
31.42
|
Diseases of the digestive tract
|
4.0
|
4.0
|
4.4
|
3.47
|
3.98
|
Congenital anomalies
|
9.2
|
11.7
|
14.2
|
9.68
|
12.26
|
Accidents, poisoning
|
49.2
|
46.6
|
44.2
|
36.62
|
33.24
|
- As
compared to 1994, there has been a noticeable decrease in the number of deaths
caused by infectious and parasitic diseases and
by accidents, poisoning and
other external causes. In contrast, the number of deaths caused by congenital
anomalies and by diseases
of the digestive tract has increased by almost 200 per
cent. However, the number of deaths caused by accidents, poisoning and other
external causes is still very high, representing two fifths of the deaths among
this age group.
Juvenile mortality: 5-14 years
- With
the age group 5-14, the mortality rate (the number of deaths for every 1,000
children 5-14) is about 0.6 per 1,000, and it registered
an increase during
1994-1996.
- Higher
levels are registered among boys in this age group, most of the deaths occurring
in rural areas, mainly due to accidents and
to diseases of the respiratory
tract, as a consequence of the difficult access to the health network and to the
low level of health
education.
Mortality in the 15-19 age group
- The
mortality rate in this age group has been decreasing over the last few years.
The mortality rate among boys 15-19 is almost double
that of girls in the same
age group.
- The
most important causes of death affecting this age group are accidents, traumatic
injuries, poisoning, and external causes. These
account for half the deaths.
Transportation accidents account for 32 per cent of the total number, drowning
23 per cent, and selfinflicted
injuries 13 per cent.
Maternal mortality
- The
following tables provide information on trends in maternal mortality and
abortions, 1994-1998:
|
1994
|
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
Maternal mortality (deaths of mothers for every 100 000 babies born
alive)
|
60.4
|
47.8
|
47.1
|
41.1
|
40.46
|
- due to obstetrical risks
|
22.3
|
22.8
|
22.1
|
22.34
|
|
- due to abortions
|
38.1
|
25.0
|
19.0
|
20.3
|
18.12
|
Abortions by age groups, 1994-1998
|
1994
|
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
Total
|
530 191
|
502 840
|
456 221
|
347 126
|
271 496
|
under 15
|
1 060
|
1 145
|
862
|
638
|
558
|
15-19
|
36 749
|
38 430
|
35 814
|
26 095
|
20 886
|
20-24
|
132 395
|
127 414
|
113 552
|
86 347
|
66 133
|
25-29
|
144 611
|
142 781
|
135 826
|
100 655
|
74 620
|
30-34
|
108 339
|
94 071
|
82 260
|
67 254
|
57 533
|
35-39
|
78 940
|
71 736
|
63 008
|
46 842
|
36 292
|
40-44
|
25 602
|
24 556
|
22 768
|
17 776
|
14 280
|
45 and over
|
2 495
|
2 707
|
2 131
|
1 519
|
1 194
|
Abortions per 1 000 babies born alive
|
2 149
|
1 125
|
1 972
|
1 465
|
1 144
|
Suicide
Suicides, 1994-1998
|
No. suicides
|
No. suicides among children 5-19
|
Of which:
|
Males
|
Females
|
1994
|
2 887
|
110
|
84
|
26
|
1995
|
2 793
|
119
|
89
|
30
|
1996
|
2 828
|
112
|
92
|
20
|
1997
|
2 859
|
111
|
85
|
26
|
1998
|
2 838
|
94
|
71
|
23
|
- Four
to 5 per cent of children and adolescents aged between 5 and 19 commit suicide,
the rate for boys being up to three times greater
than for girls, reaching 4.6
times in 1996.
- Suicide
in children and adolescents is a reality which is constantly facing Romanian
society, as children and adolescents perceive
it as the only solution to their
existential problems. The new therapeutic approach for the children and
adolescents who have attempted
suicide involves a double reform in Romania, both
in terms of childcare and in mental health services.
- Regarding
mental health services, there is a need to establish ambulatory centres to
function as buffer institutions with a predominantly
preventive role and
constitute a community link between traditional health services and other
community institutions. The new ambulatory
mental health services differ from
the traditional model in their active attitude towards the highrisk population,
in their acceptance
of groups normally rejected on account of their special
pathology and socio-economic features, in their flexibility in adapting the
servicing programme to the institutional requirements. Although such mental
health services have been recommended by WHO since as
early as 1970, they have
only recently become possible in Romania due to the inflexibility of the
previous regime as opposed to the
new governmental strategy on the protection of
the rights of the child. However, the centre set up, in Bucharest in 1996 was
the
only one to meet international psychiatric standards and to be certified as
such. It is imperative that other centres be set up
in other areas of the
country as well.
- Within
the National Programme for Family Planning and the Protection of Mother and
Child Health, the Ministry of Public Health included
a sub-programme for the
prevention and treatment of epilepsy, enuresis and mental health problems in
children and adolescents. An
additional national programme addresses drug
addiction and focuses on detoxification cures and post-cures with methadone and
nalthraxone,
to be conducted in special centres within psychiatric
hospitals.
- A
children’s section is currently operating within the Zam psychiatric
hospital in Hunedoara county, whose aim is to implement
medical and educational
measures for children falling under article 105 of the Penal Code:
hospitalization, drug treatment, continuing
education, and possibly training for
a profession.
G. HIV/AIDS
- The
number of children infected with HIV has been increasing in recent years. Of
the total number of HIV cases in 1994 (3,136), 2,916
were children between 0 and
19 years; this rose to 4,109 out of 4,599 cases, that is 89.3 per cent, in
1996.
AIDS cases, by age group
|
1994
|
1995
|
1996
|
Country total
|
3 136
|
3 727
|
4 599
|
Total children
|
2 916
|
3 424
|
4 109
|
under 1
|
491
|
493
|
504
|
1-4
|
2 008
|
2 076
|
2 140
|
5-9
|
394
|
821
|
1 400
|
10-12
|
7
|
13
|
26
|
13-14
|
9
|
10
|
13
|
15-19
|
7
|
11
|
26
|
% of children aged 0-19 of the total number of cases
|
93.0
|
91.9
|
89.3
|
- The
main agent of infection of children is mother-to-child transmission where the
mother has had a transfusion or has otherwise been
infected in the
hospital. Such cases accounted for 63 per cent of the total in 1996, an
increase of 140 per cent over the 1,653
such cases in 1994.
- AIDS
shortens the life span of the infected children: out of the total number of
deaths due to this cause, over 85 per cent occurred
in the population aged
between 0 and 19. Most of the HIV deaths in this group were children aged
between 5 and 9. Most of those
infected and most of those who die are
boys.
H. Family planning
- Family
planning has a direct impact on the health of the mother and child. High-risk
pregnancies are those among women under 20,
over 35, or less than two years
after birth.
- Family
planning services are offered by the public health system to all age categories
by a national network of family planning/reproductive
health centres and offices
(11 referral centres and 230 local family planning offices), and
obstetrics-gynaecology offices.
- The
efficiency of family planning is deficient especially in the rural areas, since
the regulations in force require only six months
of courses for medical doctors
to be certified competent in this field.
- The
following programmes have been proposed to alleviate the current
situation:
(a) Developing a short training course, especially
for doctors in the rural area;
(b) Improving both undergraduate and
postgraduate curricula to allow all general practitioners to gain competence in
the field;
(c) Having medical assistants (especially midwives) involved
in family planning after a special training period;
(d) Having social
workers involved, especially since high-risk persons usually come from
underprivileged groups. The social worker
should have knowledge in the field
and provide an interface between the community and the health
professionals.
- Pursuant
to these objectives, a World Bankfinanced national family planning programme was
initiated in 1990 with three components:
staff training, contraceptive material
procurement, and population information/education through specific communication
means.
NGOs joined the Romanian authorities, the World Bank, UNDP,
UNICEF.
- Under
the supervision of the National Centre for Health Promotion, a national
strategic plan for promoting reproductive health was
developed and signed by the
Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, the
Ministry of National Defence,
as well
as by the NGOs and international agencies in the field. Pilot programmes
were set up in three districts. Other pilot programmes
exist, especially for
education in schools, generally run by NGOs. In the public health system,
medical services are free of charge
for everybody.
- Maternal
sterility is an issue of special concern. There is practically no national
programme for in vitrofertilization (apart from
two local projects in Timisoara
and Bucharest). There is no clear set of regulations in this highly sensitive
area with ethical
and judicial implications (regarding donor status and the
mother’s role), nor any adequate funding for such usually expensive
in
vitrofertilisation programmes.
I. Social protection
- The
rights of the child to social protection/security are primarily connected with
the financial rights (allowances, etc.) from which
all children benefit. At the
same time, there are other types of allowances or services offered to the
parents in order to increase
their capacity to bring up their
children.
- As
already mentioned in chapter V, it is the universal right of all children in
Romania to benefit from a State child allowance.
This allowance is stipulated
by Law 61/1993 regarding the State child allowance and is granted until 16 years
of age, or, if the
child is integrated in one of the legally recognized
education systems, until 18.
- Starting
in March 1998, Government Decision 173/1998 raised the amount of the State child
allowance from 50,000 to 65,000 lei, 18
times the amount granted in 1993 and 25
per cent more than the amount for 1997. The sum total allocated for this
allowance by the
State budget is close to 4,000 billion lei.
- Law
No. 261/1998 was drafted and adopted at the end of 1998 to modify and
improve Law 61/1993 regarding the State child allowance,
so as to extend it
to young persons over 18 until the completion of high school or vocational
education, with the exception of those
repeating a school year for other than
medical reasons.
- The
payment of this allowance is conditioned by school attendance to prevent
dropping out. The situation at national level is that
school dropouts usually
come from families in a precarious financial situation, unable to provide for
their children’s education.
The allowance is suspended if the child drops
out of school, whereas the right to the allowance is retained.
- A
significant measure to support families with children was the passing of Law
119/1997 regarding a new family allowance: the additional
allowance for
families with children based on a transfer from the State budget to
families with several children, irrespective of
their
income. Pursuant to this law, the additional allowance is given to
families with two or more children up to age 16 (or 18
if enrolled in
daytime education or if registered as first- or second degree invalids, or as
challenged persons), as well as to the
families of foreign or stateless citizens
residing in Romania. The amount differs according to the number of children in
a family:
40,000 lei for two children; 80,000 lei for three children;
100,000 lei for four or more children. In 1998 a total of 764 billion
lei
were paid out to families in this way.
- An
additional premium is awarded to the mother before and after childbirth. For
each birth after the second child, each mother is
entitled by Law 67/1995
to a premium of 362,710 lei, to be adjusted monthly, pursuant to Government
Decision 295/1999. This fixed
sum is both a financial support for
families with children and a measure against child abandonment and to promote
the birth rate;
82,219 birth premiums were awarded in 1998 amounting to a total
of 22 billion lei.
- Law
49/1992 (art. 4) stipulates the periodic payments and the entitlement period for
pregnancy and post-natal leave of absence in
relation to the length of service
of the mothers. This pre- or post-natal leave of absence may not exceed 112
days and can be requested
by the mother as she sees fit, starting with the
seventh month of pregnancy. The payment for this leave of absence is 65 per
cent
of the current salary for female employees with less than eight
years’ service and 85 per cent for those with over 8 years’
service.
- At
the same time, Law 120/1997 stipulates the right to a paid holiday for either of
the parents to look after their child up to two
years of age, the wages being 85
per cent of the regular salary they would normally receive. If the situation
involves caring for
a child with special needs, the leave may extend to three
years of age, and additional medical leaves of absence are granted to look
after
children with certain medical conditions until they reach 18 years of
age.
- Should
the mother decide to continue working, article 156 of the Labour Code stipulates
the right to a break for feeding and tending
to a child.
- Indemnities
and facilities for the care of children with special needs are a special
category. In addition to the salary paid under
a special contract with the
Territorial Inspectorate for Disabled Persons, there are a series of facilities
for such persons:
(a) Priority for telephone line installation
and exemption from the payment of the basic fee;
(b) Free urban public
transportation for persons registered as first- or second-degree invalids; the
former also benefit from 12
free inter-urban trips each year;
(c) Free
medical care with free medication and treatment in special
resorts;
(d) Priority for disabled persons or persons bringing up
disabled children for State housing as well as additional rooms allocated
on
demand for State-owned apartments;
(e) Priority for social housing with
subsidized rent (the rent may not exceed 10 per cent of the
family’s net monthly income).
- One
other very significant measure to ensure a minimum income for families or
persons experiencing difficulties with no or a small
income is the social
allowance based on the principle of social solidarity. The social allowance is
stipulated by Law 67/1995 regarding
social allowance and GD 125/1996 regarding
certain measures connected to the social allowance and
instituting minimum criteria to calculate this allowance. Local authorities
are responsible for the implementation of this law, the
mayor being in charge of
responding to applications and establishing the respective rights. The funds
for the payment of such social
allowance rights come from the local
budgets.
- The
level of net income up to which a person is entitled to a social allowance is
readjusted periodically. At present, pursuant to
GD 295/1999, the maximum level
is set as follows according to the number of family members:
− for 1 person: 156,000 lei;
− for families of 2: 281,000 lei;
− for families of 3: 392,000 lei;
− for families of 4: 492,000 lei;
− for families of 5: 586,000 lei;
− for each additional family member: 87,000 lei.
The
social allowance is given to families whose income is below the net
levels.
- Emergency
assistance is provided pursuant to Law 67/1995 regarding the social allowance
and is to be paid also by local councils to
families in a crisis situation
(natural calamities, fires, deaths, etc.). Local councils also offer free meals
or canteen meals
at a subsidized rate of up to 70 per cent to families
benefiting from social allowance or other families meeting the conditions
set
by the law.
J. The quality of life
- The
Environmental Protection law 137/1995, article 5, stipulates that “the
State acknowledges the right of every person to a
healthy environment”, to
which end it guarantees the implementation of the measures which ensure
this fundamental right of
mankind.
- The
Romanian environmental protection legislation makes no special mention of
special standards to ensure the right of the child to
a healthy environment, so
this right is dependent on its realization for the rest of the population in
general. In this respect,
the Environmental Protection Law, together with other
normative acts including State standards, stipulates mandatory general measures
to eliminate pollution sources, whether chemical, radioactive, bacteriological,
or phonic, and to improve the quality of the environment
and of life. The
measures address the protection of the atmosphere, the waters, the ground, the
vegetation, residential and entertainment
areas, and green spaces in urban
locations.
- There
are numerous areas and cities in the country where the local population suffers
from the negative impact of pollution sources:
− Atmospheric pollution with toxic substances, some of them extremely
aggressive;
− Surface and underground water pollution, including of drinking water,
especially in certain rural areas;
− Vegetable and animal food product contamination;
− Noise pollution, especially in the urban
environment.
- The
Ministry of the Waters, Forests, and Environmental Protection aims to initiate,
together with other governmental and non-governmental
structures, the setting up
of ecological recreation, training and education, especially for the children
from areas affected by pollution
and generally for children in a difficult
situation. The Ministry of Public Health has initiated programmes for the
improvement
of health, living conditions and the environment in association with
local and international NGOs. Apart from these, National Action
Programme No.
10 for the monitoring of health in child and adolescent communities aims for
promotion and prevention by evaluating
the health and risk
factors.
- The
objectives of such programmes aim at assessing the level of physical development
in relation to the living environment factors
and the impact such factors have
on the health of children and adolescents. To this effect, many of the
activities are aimed at
the evaluation of the microclimate and the environment
of school units. Measures to improve them are promoted by local authorities,
school inspectorates, etc. following recommendations from the health inspectors
of the Ministry of Public Health.
- Also,
National Action Programme No. 9 for health and the environment includes the
setting of norms regarding the quality of the environment
in dwellings and
social-administrative buildings, as well as of a methodology to evaluate the
health risk within environmental impact
research.
- To
prevent sicknesses and pollution, the programme objectives include measures to
diminish specific risks in the living and working
environments: protection
against water and air pollution, against the chemical and microbiological
contamination of food, reduction
of population exposure to ionic radiation,
protection against noise pollution, etc.
- The
Ministry of Health has specifically noted that it is impossible to address all
aspects of the health of children and adolescents
and the risk factors to which
they are exposed due to inadequate funding and human resources, which calls for
careful prioritizing
of health problems for this age group.
VII. EDUCATION, LEISURE AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES
A. General information regarding the education system
- The
Romanian Constitution stipulates the right to education together with free State
education for all children and adolescents, irrespective of social or
ethnic
origin, gender or religious preference. Education Law 84/1995 acknowledges
education to be a national priority. The educational
ideal of Romanian school
consists in the free, complete, and harmonious development of the individual, in
the forming of the autonomous
and creative human personality (arts. 2,
3).
- The
objectives of the Education Law are:
(a) The appropriation of
scientific knowledge and of national and universal values;
(b) The
formation of intellectual abilities, affective availabilities, and practical
skills by the assimilation of humanistic, scientific,
technical, and aesthetic
knowledge;
(c) The assimilation of techniques of intellectual labour
required for instruction and selfinstruction for the duration of one’s
life;
(d) The cultivation of respect for fundamental human rights and
liberties, for human dignity, and the free exchange of ideas;
(e) The
cultivation of sensitivity towards human problems, moral-civic values, and of
respect for nature and the environment;
(f) The harmonious development
of the individual through physical education, hygiene and health education, and
sports;
(g) The specialization of the young for a useful profession
generating material and spiritual rewards.
- The
main objective of the reform initiated by the Ministry of National Education is
the completion of the transition from an authoritarian
and centralized
educational system to a system suitable for a society based on individual
liberty. To meet this objective, the Ministry
proposes:
(a) To
reduce the curricula load and to make them compatible with European
curricula;
(b) To convert a self-perpetuating system into an essentially
creative one and to bring research back to the core of academic
education;
(c) To improve the infrastructure and generalize educational
communication;
(d) To create a partnership and a new interaction between
schools and universities, on the one hand, and the economic, administrative,
and
cultural environment on the other;
(e) To orient management towards
performance and competition, and to free it from centralism and populism
alike;
(f) To integrate Romanian education within the international
education network.
- The
Ministry of National Education has sought to unblock reform, to design and
implement real reform in keeping with the present needs
of Romania and
perceptible to all interested categories of people: students, teachers,
parents. The main measures initiated by
the Ministry to fulfil this aim
are:
− Reorganizing the Ministry of National Education;
− Curriculum reform;
− Institutional changes in education;
− Reforming scientific research;
− Reorganizing the academic year;
− Reforming assessment of knowledge and of school
units;
− Optimizing the use of existing resources;
− Ensuring the salaries and continuous formation of the teaching
staff;
− Computerizing and improving the education
infrastructure;
− School and university management;
− Legislative reform and international cooperation.
- All
the above measures aim to reshape the educational process so as to cultivate
respect for the personality of the child and for
the fundamental rights and
liberties of mankind, for the harmonious development of the child, and for
his/her readiness to assume
a responsible life in society. Practically, these
measures lightened the curricula, introduced new subjects to enhance the
psychological
and intellectual potential of students (communication, sciences,
visual education, optional courses, etc.), set up parent committees
and lectures
to change their attitudes and involve them more in school activities. Education
and its components (civic, moral, environmental
protection, traffic) is ensured
through self-standing subjects (moral-civic education), half-annual or annual
programmes, and topics
to be debated during counselling hours.
- Student
orientation and counselling are provided in centres and offices for
psychopedagogic assistance under the supervision of district
school
inspectorates, in counselling offices within school units, or with the
assistance of school and professional orientation commissions
within the
specialized department of the Ministry of National Education. The professionals
directly involved include the class principals,
the school psychologist, as well
as other professional categories.
B. Relaunching rural education
- Starting
from the data compiled by the National Statistics Commission, according to which
52.9 per cent of the Romanian population
live in rural areas and is increasing,
as well as from the troubling data relating to the operation of school units in
this type
of environment, the Ministry of National Education believes it is
necessary to relaunch rural education.
- In
contrast to the urban education dominated by school dropouts, rural education is
confronted with nonschooling and school absenteeism.
These phenomena have two
major causes:
(a) The precarious economic and social status of
the parents in the rural environment, the isolation of habitats, the distance
between
residence and school, the absence of hygiene, the students being kept at
home for agricultural labour;
(b) Unsuitable school spaces, insufficient
or inadequate funding, inadequate material equipment of schools, understaffing
(especially
for qualified staff).
- Under
the circumstances, the programme of the Ministry of National Education
proposes:
− To expand the rural education network;
− To adequately equip rural schools with modern teaching and communication
means;
− To connect village schools to modern information
networks;
− To properly endow school libraries;
− To build and operate efficiently the rural school transportation
network;
− To introduce and expand extramural education
systems;
− To make functional an extensive system of rural school
canteens;
− To influence the movement of skilled teaching staff towards the rural
environment by study credit systems, limited work contracts
and other
facilities.
- This
programme of restructuring the school network complements another national
programme initiated by the Ministry of National Education
for the rehabilitation
of schools (new school construction, development and consolidation of existing
ones), co-financed by the Romanian
Government and the World
Bank.
C. The structure of the national education system
- The
levels of the Romanian education system are as follows:
Pre-school education for children between 3-7
Primary education (grades I to IV)
Secondary education: gymnasium (grades V to VIII)
high school
(grades IX to XII/XIII)
vocational
Post-high school education
Higher education: undergraduate
postgraduate
Continuing education
- The
types of education in Romania are co-educational, extramural, night school,
distance learning, private, alternative forms to regular
and special education
such as Waldorf, Pestalozzi, Montessori and stepbystep for mass education, and
special education centres, therapeutic
pedagogic centres, home schooling,
sanatorium/prevention schools for special education.
Pre-school education
- Pre-school
education is not mandatory in Romania. Crèches (ages 0-3) have medical
staff but no professional instructors.
Twelve thousand, nine hundred and
fifty-one kindergartens were registered in the 1996/97 school year, of which
3,331 were urban and
9,620 rural. One thousand, three hundred and thirty-five
(10.3 per cent) are destined for ethnic minority children. Preschool education
intake was 659,226 children, of whom 49,545 were in ethnic minority units or
sections. The number of pre-school units rose to 13,352
in 1998 (of which
13,352 were public kindergartens, 22 kindergartens for children with special
needs and 75 private kindergartens),
for an optimum intake of 700,000. The
actual intake was 731,587.
- Despite
the rather significant number of rural pre-school units, the rural intake is
lower than the urban.
- There
is a general tendency for the pre-school intake to fall (752,141 in 1990,
659,226 in 1996/97), possibly as a result of the reduction
in demographic
growth and the increase in unemployment, especially for females. Parents’
financial hardships should be added
to this, although regular kindergartens
(four hours daily) are free, and the extended timetable (eight hours daily) is
50 per cent
subsidized by the State.
- Children
between five and seven enrolled in the preparatory groups of the kindergarten
are exposed to activities aimed at preparing
them for student life. There is a
constant concern to improve the quality of education in kindergartens by
dropping the child/instructor
ratio from 28 in 1990 to 17 in 1996.
These data represent average amounts and occasionally there can be up to 30
children per instructor,
especially in rural areas and in underprivileged
economic and geographic areas (southern Moldavia, the Danube Delta).
Thirty-six
thousand, five hundred and two pre-school instructors were
registered by the Ministry of National Education in 1997/98, 37,929 in
1996/97
and 37,007 in 1990/91.
Primary education
- Compulsory
education in Romania includes grades I through VIII. Grades I through IV are
primary education. Primary education is
provided in 6,188 units, of which 5,697
are rural. There are a total of 52,701 primary classes with an intake
of 1,388,155 students,
of whom 676,761 are female.
- Classes
in the mother tongue of ethnic minorities include 67,629 students for
Hungarian; 7,268 for German; 599 for Ukrainian; 29,601
for other
languages.
- There
were 35,869 Rroma students in primary classes. Certain classes are taught in
the Rromani language, but they are understaffed,
as there are not enough
professionals from native Rromanispeaking groups. Although schools preparing
this category of professionals
have a special intake provision for ethnic Rroma,
the places usually remain unfilled and often graduates will refuse to take
classes
of Rroma students. Most Rroma students go to classes taught in Romanian
or Hungarian in Transylvania. Among the possible explanations
are a refusal by
Rroma to be channelled into a form of discrimination which may be beneficial for
early ages but is seen as detrimental
later in life, due to ethnic
prejudice.
- Listed
as one of the underprivileged categories, access to education for the Rroma
children was facilitated by the Ministry of National
Education through the
following measures of positive discrimination listed under Order
4562/1998:
− Where families are nomadic, school enrolment is not conditioned by the
parent’s domicile; only a written application
is
required;
− School inspectorates are authorized to set up school caravans for nomad
Rroma children or for children who do not attend
school for various
reasons;
− School inspectorates are authorized to provide free pre-school education
for children of underprivileged Rroma families so
they may attend this first
stage of school instruction;
− The allotment of Rroma places in schools and universities stipulated by
Order 3577/1998 are extended into the academic year
1999/2000 and their
number is increased with the general increase of university student
intakes;
− The general inspectorate for religious education within the Ministry of
National Education, together with the inspector for
the Rroma ethnic group of
the General Directorate of Education for the Minorities, are authorized to
negotiate with theological seminaries
admission of Rroma grade VIII graduates to
prepare them for religious services requested by the Rroma
population;
− The General Directorate of preparation for higher education, school
camps and tourism listed intercultural camps to include
Rroma children for the
1998/99 academic year.
- Two
thousand, seven hundred and sixty-two education units are urban and 11,049
rural, with a 60 per cent urban intake. Overpopulation
in urban classes is
due to the concentration of the young population (parents) in cities, as a
result of a tendency to abandon rural
living and find urban jobs, as well as to
parents’ desire to have their children educated by professionally trained
staff.
- Of
the 61,378 primary schoolteachers, only 49,875 have been formally trained.
There were 9,200 dropouts from primary education in
1996/97, which rose to
11,696 in 1998/99. The main causes include:
− Material difficulties of the children’s
families;
− The use of child labour, especially in rural areas;
− Decreasing motivation for education and instruction due to the mirage of
quick earnings, corroborated by inadequate support
for studying from
parents;
− Exigencies of an education system with very high standards, but at times
indifferent to the need to ensure average competence
in students instead of
favouring top results for a limited number of students;
− Faulty communication between the school and the
family.
All these causes were identified by professional
educators themselves, which led to proposals for change to a system based
on accumulated
information to an operational one based on knowledgeappropriation
skills.
Gymnasium education
- Gymnasium
education, grades V through VIII for children aged 10-14/15, has an intake
of 1,120,730, of whom 547,887 are female. The
students are grouped in
52,476 day classes.
The number of hours per week range from 25 for grade V to 32 for grade VIII.
The teaching is performed by 92,047 specialized teachers
and 3,330
technical instructors, with a total of 64,185 females.
- There
were 12,678 dropouts in 1996/97, 7,639 in the urban areas and 5,039 rural; the
total number of dropouts for 1998/99 was 9,027
in urban schools and 8,362 in
rural schools.
- Despite
efforts to offer equal opportunities to children irrespective of their area of
residence by creating a significant number
of classes in such areas, there is an
important deficit of trained professionals in rural, less accessible and less
inhabited areas.
Untrained staff are still being used in such schools, as well
as simultaneous classes (students of different grades working at the
same time
in the same room). This leads to a difference in the level of training, which
is a reason for subsequent educational failure
and reduced access to high school
and vocational education. This amounts to the recognition that the right to
education is only
partially available.
- Six
point eight per cent of children ages 7-14 did not attend compulsory schooling
in 1996/97.
Vocational education
- This
form of education includes children and adolescents over 14 who have completed
their compulsory training. Vocational schools
are part of the State education
system and involve a twotofouryear study period, depending on the specialization
and complexity of
the profession. Enrolment is based on a primary graduation
certificate with an additional admission examination when applications
exceed
the intake capacity.
- Vocational
schools also organize complementary education (for apprentices) over a
onetothreeyear period. Graduation is certified
by a diploma of skilled worker.
Vocational schools generate graduates in over 300 professions, their practical
training being 66
per cent of the curriculum.
- In
1998/99 the intake for vocational and apprentice education dropped to 259,398
from the 262,057 enrolled in 1996/97 and the 365,860
in 1990/91. There are
797 vocational and apprentice schools with 7,627 teachers and master
instructors, as opposed to 707 schools
with 4,209 teachers and master
instructors in 1990/91. The 1997/98 vocational education intake was 219,075
with 5,091 teaching staff
as compared to 201,243 intake for vocational education
in 1998/99. The dropping intake relative to the growing staff numbers may
lead to a more efficient training process.
- The
professions taught are grouped around the following domains: extraction and
drilling, electrotechnics, metallurgy, machine building,
wood processing, food
processing, forestry, commerce and services. The professions are carefully
balanced against the economic changes
in Romania. Practical work is therefore
conducted in the companies where the future graduates are to be
employed.
- The
number of dropouts rose to 9,994 for vocational education and 4,328 for
complementary education in 1997/98 and 10,193 for vocational
and 3,973 for
complementary education in 1998/99.
High school education
- High
school education spans over a four-to-five-year period. Students may choose
from the following subjects: theory, computers,
economics, technical subjects,
agriculture, art (music, choreography, painting and sculpting), administration,
military, sports,
theology, special subjects.
- High
schools are usually State units (there are three private high schools at
present) for gymnasium graduates. Admission exams are
organized for daytime,
night-time, and external education. Nighttime and external education are
usually offered to graduates of
vocational or complementary schools, mostly over
18, desiring to continue their study. Most of the high schools are urban.
There
are agricultural high schools in rural areas. The high school intake
in 1996/97 was 792,788 of whom 432,710 were female. The intake
dropped to
762,704 in 1997/98 and rose again to 790,934 in 1998/99.
- There
is no demonstrable difference between male and female students in their choice
of study with the exception of the technical
subjects, where males are
three times the number of females and teaching, where 17,222 out of 18,398
students are females. There
are also high schools taught in Hungarian and
German. There were 34,837 high school dropouts in 1996/97, going down
slightly down
to 32,222 in 1998/99.
Education budget
- Education
received 3.1 per cent of the gross national product in 1994. In 1995, the
Education Law stipulated a mandatory 4 per cent
of GNP, which was carried over
to 1996/97 and will very likely be the same for 1998/99. However,
this sum became inadequate with
the decrease in GNP and
inflation.
- Investments
to rehabilitate the buildings destined for educational purposes are still below
minimum standards as compared to EU and
even Central European countries.
Additionally, there is only a very limited amount of the required equipment and
teaching materials.
- There
are 873 school dormitories for 99,554 students and 747 canteens
feeding 101,304 students. Both the canteens and the dormitories
are
insufficient, especially in the rural areas where schools are at a
significant distance from the students’ homes and for
students
ages 1014.
- In
1996/97, 90,628 scholarships were offered to students for compulsory education
and 31,559 scholarships to high school students,
and 541,314 students
benefited from social allowances. Still, the financial difficulties encountered
by many of the students’
families led
to 59,464 dropouts of the overall 3,599,569 intake in 1998/99. This has
to be placed in the context where the State can allocate
only the following
amounts according to the education level:
− pre-school education: 1,358,475 lei
− primary/gymnasium education: 1,628,252 lei
− high school education: 2,783,587 lei
− vocational education: 1,275,516 lei
− special education: 9,846,846 lei
− post-high school education: 1,274,959 lei
- The
analysis of the overall funding coming from the central Government in 1998
showed an amount of 10.5 billion lei divided into:
− pre-school education: 728,432,450 lei
− primary/gymnasium education: 3,768,493,310 lei
− high school education: 1,777,431,740 lei
− vocational education: 249,453,470 lei
− post-high school education: 127,475,850 lei
− special education: 598,512,880 lei
− higher education: 1,899,044,200 lei
− dormitories, canteens, hostels: 71,130,000 lei
− other: 1,287,252,215 lei
- Apart
from the funds allocated by the Ministry of National Education (for State
educational units, auxiliary and administrative staff
salaries and operation),
pursuant to article 167, paragraph 2, of the Education Law, funds for
maintenance and repairs of education
units (except for universities) are paid by
district and local councils out of specially allocated funds from the State
budget, out
of local budgets, as well as out of their own resources. Paragraph
3 of the same article stipulates that specialized ministries,
public authorities
and interested businesses contribute with their own funds, upon contract, to the
maintenance and rehabilitation
of postprimary units.
D. Recreation and leisure activities
Ministry of National Education
- Children’s
centres and clubs in 249 cities host over 600,000 children (statistics
for 1997/98). These clubs include a wide
range of scientific, artistic and
sports groups. Besides their daily activities, art and sports groups also
organize shows and competitions.
Around 300,000 children took part in artistic
activities and 60,000 children took part in sport and tourist activities.
Access
to sports is limited by high equipment costs and by the difficulty
of transportation to the various stadiums and locations. Technical
classes
are attended by over 200,000 children.
- Each
county has a camp administration which organizes trips and stays for students in
the 210 school camps. Five hundred thousand
children attended such camps
in 1997/98. Children in childcare institutions enjoy such camps free, while the
other children have
to pay a fee depending on their parents’ income and
the number of children in a family. Camp administrations are subsidized
by the
State budget and additionally funded by NGOs and other
sponsors.
- There
is a discrepancy in the access of children to extracurricular and camping
activities, especially in regard to children from
rural areas and from
underprivileged families, including Rroma families. For the latter, the
specific cultural context impedes their
participation in educational activities
outside classes.
- Most
of the schools have libraries, but the book fund is mostly outdated due to
financial limitations and to inadequate investments
to develop and update school
libraries. The ROEDUNET national system initiated by the Ministry of National
Education will transform
school libraries into documentation centres and will
help raise the membership of children and young people. School libraries
organized
as documentation centres may become cultural centres in the rural
areas and/or centres for continuing education (parents’ schools,
centres
for computer literacy).
- The
Romanian Institute for Human Rights is the main partner of the Ministry of
National Education in organizing the national camp
and competition
“Democracy and Tolerance” for gymnasium students, whose general
theme is the rights of the child.
- Starting
with 1995, the national contest “Romanian Culture and Civilization”
has been organized for high school students
as a recreational activity meant to
encourage knowledge of the local patrimony and intercultural education. The
theme of the 1999
edition was “Cultural, historical and religious
particularities of your local community”.
Ministry of Culture
- Children’s
literature is published by several publishers (with an emphasis on textbooks).
The Government does not subsidize
this kind of literature, usually considered
profitable, the only exception being the Ion Creanga Publishing House. The
Ministry
of Culture finds it useful that children’s literature should
benefit from a more substantial contribution in the future, by
means of
subsidizing formative and educational programmes regarding belletrist as well as
technical and scientific literature. The
Ion Creanga and Junior Publishing
Houses will be priority recipients since they are specialized
institutions.
- There
are 19 puppet theatres in Romania organizing, beside their regular repertoire,
other activities for the pre-school, school,
and teenage public (festivals,
workshops, etc.). Shows are in Romanian, in the languages of ethnic minorities
(Hungarian), or in
foreign languages (for example, the Ion Creanga Theatre runs
shows in French and English for young people).
- The
public for this kind of activity is quite varied: children and young people
from ordinary families, disabled children, HIV-positive
children, children in
childcare institutions or requiring extensive hospitalized care (like children
in oncology wards). Most of
the activities designed and performed in theatres
are supported financially by the State through the Ministry of Culture or local
authorities.
Ministry of Youth and Sport
- The
Ministry of Youth and Sport runs programmes for children and young people which
concentrate on sport for all, high performance
sports and sports for the
handicapped.
- The
Romanian Federation Sports for All runs two broad programmes for children and
young people: the Baby Sports Programme, a strategy
of physical exercise where
movement and games start at a very early age, designed by the Ministry of Youth
and Sport and UNICEF,
and the Fun Sports Programme, which allows each child or
young person to freely choose his/her leisure time activity, in an organized
framework or independently, in order to express and develop their individual
physical and psychological abilities.
- The
high performance sport programme aims to stimulate the interest of sport units
in working with children and junior teams and to
select and promote young
athletes in the European and world circuit. In 1998, 72,000 children and young
persons were registered
with school sports clubs, organized in beginners,
advanced, and high performance groups.
- The
programmes of national federations are generally concerned with junior
teams (age 1718) and cadet teams (age 15-16), but also
run
subprogrammes to stimulate interest in sports among both male and female
students. The funding for this programme is 18,949
million lei and it
covers the activities of 41 federations. Another 3,162 million lei were
allocated to preparing 325 students in
national Olympic
centres.
- The
Romanian federation Sport for the Disabled aims mainly to integrate disabled
persons in society through sport, irrespective of
their handicap, gender, age,
religion, political sympathies, etc. National competitions for persons with
motor handicaps enrolled
200 persons aged 15-45, 80 per cent of whom
are between 15 and 30 and equally balanced between the genders. The funding for
competitions
for persons with a mental handicap were 62,070,000 lei with a
participation of around 600 persons.
- The
National Special Olympics for table tennis and athletics are organized together
with the Special Olympics association. Two thousand
children and young people
aged 8-22 from all over the country participate every year, and 400-600 reach
the finals.
VIII. SPECIAL PROTECTION MEASURES
A. Children in situations of emergency: refugee children
(art. 22)
- Between
1993 and 1998 the Office for Refugees registered 5,363 persons requesting
asylum; 602 of them were granted refugee status.
Below is the situation by year
regarding the number of refugee children out of the total number of
applications:
|
1993
|
1994
|
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
Total
|
Applications submitted
|
928
|
647
|
634
|
584
|
1 424
|
1 146
|
5 363
|
Applications accepted
|
0
|
16
|
94
|
94
|
80
|
318
|
602
|
Number of children
|
0
|
9
|
7
|
12
|
26
|
44
|
98
|
- All
98 children granted refugee status in the reference period came in the company
of a legal representative. There is no evidence
of an individual application by
children, all formalities for foreign children having been submitted by their
legal representatives.
- Should
there occur in the future an individual application for refugee status by a
child unaccompanied and without judicial capacity
according to the Romanian
legislation, the competent departments and officials of the Ministry of Internal
Affairs are under the
obligation to make sure the child is represented by an
adult or by a specially appointed organization.
- On
the other hand, the Ministry of National Education ensures access to pre-school
and school education for all children of asylum-seekers
and refugees requiring
it in school 165 in Bucharest where a special class was created and from where
these children will be integrated
into mass education. The Bucharest Liaison
Bureau with UNHCR runs many special programmes together with NGOs with
experience in
the field in order to support these children and increase their
ability to integrate and adapt socially.
- Pursuant
to the current legislation, refugee status determination period is three years,
with the right of a two-year extension.
All cases where this term has expired
have nevertheless been favourably resolved by the Romanian authorities in
accordance with the
Law 46/1991 regarding adherence to the 1951 Convention
relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol. Both during the
formalities towards the obtaining of refugee status and after the status has
been granted, the Romanian State offers material support
to the persons with no
means of subsistence. The Ministry of Internal Affairs uses specially allocated
government funds to offer
temporary material assistance to asylum seekers and
the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection offers refugee status applicants
a
six-month allowance equal to a minimum salary.
- A
hundred and sixteen refugees and asylumseekers, including 56 children, are
currently accommodated at a centre in Bucharest. Others
reside in Bucharest and
a few in other cities. The Ministry of Internal Affairs took over two buildings
which will be rehabilitated
with assistance from the UNHCR and used to lodge
asylumseekers and some refugees.
B. Children in conflict with the law
1. The administration of juvenile justice
(art. 40)
- The
Romanian Penal Code has a special penalty condition for minors as opposed to
adults. Derogatory procedural norms from the common
law are stipulated for the
trial of minors. Penal responsibility for minors is set at 14 years of age.
Minors aged 14-16 are penally
responsible providing it is established that they
committed the crime with full discerning powers (art. 99 of the Penal
Code). Other
than penal protection measures are taken for minors not penally
responsible or liable to commit deeds punishable by the penal law.
In selecting
the penalty or educational measure for penally responsible minors
(arts. 100 and 101 of the Penal Code) the judge has
to consider the degree
of social menace of the crime, the physical status, moral and intellectual
development, conduct and living
conditions of the minor, as well as other
elements which may characterize the minor. Educational measures are predominant
and penalties
are conditioned by demonstrable proof that educational measures
would be insufficient.
- Pursuant
to article 20, paragraph 1, of the Romanian Constitution, all stipulations
regarding the rights and liberties of citizens are to be interpreted and applied
in accordance with the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and with the
conventions and treaties to which Romania is a party, and the second paragraph
of article
20 states that as regards fundamental human rights, should there
arise incompatibilities between domestic laws and international
pacts and
treaties, the latter have precedence over the former and should act as
guarantees for the respect and strengthening of
the rights and liberties of
minors in legal conflicts.
- Thus,
in the absence of domestic legislation, the principles and stipulations of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child regarding
justice for minors, and the
United Nations Standard Minimal Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice
(The Beijing Rules),
and the recommendation R(87) 20 of the Committee of
Ministers of the Council of Europe regarding social reaction to juvenile
delinquency
become applicable, together with other international judicial
instruments to which Romania has adhered.
- Domestic
legislation regarding justice for minors responds to the requirements of
international acts, making quite clear the preoccupation
of the legislators to
come into agreement where possible with the stipulations and the spirit of the
Convention.
- The
stipulations regarding the educational measures (their type, content and
execution) and the penalties within the special limits
set for minors, to which
are added the stipulations of the Criminal Procedure Code and of the normative
acts regulating the execution
of penalties and educational measures of placement
in the custody of reeducation centres, result from a concern with the
reintegration
of the minors in society and their assuming a constructive social
role. Law 140/1996 for the modification and completion of the
Romanian
Penal Code sets out obligations for the minor while he/she executes the
educational measure of supervised liberty (a period
in which the minor is
entrusted to his family or to another person or, in extreme cases, to an
institution), among which is the obligation
to perform an unsalaried activity
for the benefit of the society in an institution of public interest for a
duration of 50 to 200
hours after classes or during the holidays. The same
holds for minors whose imprisonment is suspended until they reach 18 years
of
age. On reaching that age, the young person has to fulfil the obligations
imposed by the supervised suspension of the execution
of penalty (art. 86
of the Penal Code), such as to perform a useful activity and to continue his/her
education.
- These
stipulations were recorded by the penal law in order to augment the
responsibility of the minor towards his/her community, to
develop a sense of
personal worth, and to facilitate reintegration in society. The other
obligations to the effect of precluding
the minor’s frequenting certain
locations or contacting certain persons are also in the minor’s own
interest by sheltering
him/her from the negative influence of a pre-delinquent
environment.
- The
above measures which are part of the Penal Code are based on experiments with
alternatives to imprisonment within a programme
developed over a twoyear period
by the Ministry of Justice in association with the Special Representative of
UNICEF in Romania.
- The
presumption of innocence is guaranteed by the Constitution (art. 23,
para. 8). The defendant is under no obligation to prove his/her innocence.
Where evidence of guilt is presented, the defendant
has the right to refute it
(article 66 of the Criminal Procedure Code).
- A
minor may not be convicted for a deed which is not stipulated as a crime by the
penal law. It is only in connection with such a
deed, if guilt be demonstrated,
that penalties may be pronounced. The principle of non-retroactivity is
operative according to which
“penal law may not be applied if at the time
of its performance, the deed was not stipulated as a breech of law”. Also,
the penal law is not applicable to acts that are no longer
illegal.
- The
legal authorities are under the obligation to inform the (minor) defendant of
the act for which he/she is accused and of its judicial
classification, and to
ensure that he/she is represented by a defender (article 6,
paragraph 3 of the Criminal Procedure Code).
The detained minor must be
informed immediately of the reasons therefor, and the accusation is to be
communicated as soon as possible
in the presence of a lawyer (art
1371).
- The
investigation authorities are under the obligation to make available the penal
investigation material (articles 250 and 257 of
the Criminal Procedure
Code). At the first hearing, the president of the court must establish whether
the defendant was given a
copy of the indictment and if he/she was informed
about the accusation. The trial can be postponed at the defendant’s
request
if the indictment was not communicated within three days
(art. 318). The representative of the tutelary authority, the parents,
the
guardian, or the person to whom the minor has been entrusted must be present for
the presentation of the penal material (art.
41,
para. 2).
- The
president of the court must order the clerk to read the accusation and then
proceed to explain the accusation to the minor defendant.
Also, the defendant
has to be told about the right to ask questions of the co-accused, the other
parties, the witnesses and the
experts, and the right to request explanations
throughout the trial whenever he/she wishes (art. 322). The penal
investigation is
performed by prosecutors and by the penal investigation
authorities/police (art. 201). The trial is performed by judicial
authorities:
courts of justice, tribunals, appeal courts, and the Supreme Court
of Justice (article 25, paragraph 1, of the Constitution and
article 10 of Law 92/1992 regarding judicial organization). Although
there are no special tribunals for minors in Romania, provisions
are made for a
special structure of the judicial instance. The law on judicial organization
(art. 16, para. 2) stipulates that a
minor’s trial is to be
judged by judges appointed by the president of the court. Also, the Criminal
Procedure Code institutes
a special derogatory procedure for minors to be
applied if the minor is under 18 or if the minor turns 18 during the penal
process.
- The
special procedure for the trial of minors stipulates
that:
(a) The judging of the case is performed in the presence
of the minor;
(b) A social inquiry is mandatory for the penal
investigation authority and for the board of judges;
(c) The tutelary
authority, the parents, the guardian or the person to whom the minor is
entrusted, together with anyone whose presence
is deemed necessary, should
attend the trial;
(d) The trial session is to be held separately from
other sessions and is not public. The judges can decide to excuse the minor
after having heard him/her if they decide that the investigation and proceedings
might have a negative influence on the minor;
(e) If the minor is to be
tried together with adult defendants, the cases may be
separated;
(f) The procedure for persons caught in flagrante delicto
does not apply to minors.
- The
right to an impartial and equitable procedure is implicitly related to the
minor’s ability to ask for evidence in his/her
defence, to interrogate the
witnesses and discuss the accusation with the experts. Although there are no
fixed terms for the resolution
of cases regarding minor defendants, the Superior
Council of Magistrates can penalize the judges whenever there is evidence of
systematic
delays of the procedure (article 29 of Law 92/1992 on judicial
organization).
- Article
481, paragraph 2, and article 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code stipulate that
subpoenas are to be served to the tutelary
authority, the parents, the guardian,
or any other persons to whom the minor has been entrusted, during the penal
inquiry, upon the
presentation of the evidence and during the trial, once the
rights of such persons have been established, and that the minor has
the right
to be assisted by a lawyer of his/her own choice or appointed. It must be noted
that most of the recognized rights of
the minors and their guarantee during the
penal process become possible by ensuring the right to defence. Pursuant to
current legislation,
the ruling of the first instance may be contested and
appealed. It is also possible to use, where the law makes such provisions,
extraordinary measures (revision and contestation in annulment, appeal in
annulment).
- The
Romanian Constitution recognizes the rights of citizens belonging to ethnic
minorities and persons who cannot speak or understand Romanian to use the
interpreting
services to be informed of all documents and terms of the case, to
address the court, and to express conclusions. The services of
an interpreter
are free of any charge (article 127 of the Criminal Procedure Code). The
Criminal Procedure Code additionally stipulates
that the native language of an
ethnic minority, must be used in courts of law in the areas inhabited by such
minority (art. 7).
- The
Emergency Ordinance of the Romanian Government No. 26/1997 regarding the
protection of the child in difficulty stipulates the
right to protection of
children having committed a criminal action but who cannot be held penally
responsible. The Commission for
the Protection of the Child must take
educational measures in such cases, to be applied for the children’s best
interest.
Should the Commission decide a measure of supervised liberty against
a child without penal responsibility, the child may be entrusted
to his/her
family, to another family, or to the public service specializing in child
protection.
- The
judges appointed to try penal causes involving minor criminals must participate
yearly in central or regional colloquiums and
seminars debating the theoretical
and practical problems regarding the criminal liability of the minor, the rights
of the suspected,
accused, or guilty child, and the procedural guarantees he/she
is entitled to.
- The
National Institute of the Magistracy organizes modules for intern judges
regarding family law and the criminal liability of the
minor, and the rights of
the minors acknowledged by international conventions.
- In
order to prevent juvenile delinquency and the victimization of minors, the
prosecutors have to:
− Cooperate with the police to prevent juvenile delinquency and to
identify homeless children, children who have fled their
families or the
tutelary institutions, in order to keep strict account of
them;
− Continue verifying that the rights and interests of institutionalized
minors are respected and that legal provisions are
observed in penal inquiries
and judicial actions;
− Cooperate with the Commissions for the Protection of the Child and with
the public services specializing in child protection
that were created pursuant
to the new legislation in each district of the country and each borough of the
capital.
- Apart
from these measures, the Bureau for the Protection of the Rights and Interests
of Minors of the Section for Penal Investigation
and Criminal Justice of the
General Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Supreme Court of Justice will
make sure to:
− Verify the way in which the Romanian Committee for Adoptions observes
the new legal provisions regarding domestic and international
adoptions;
− Take charge of the documentation for the use of prosecutors specializing
in defending the rights and interests of minors;
− Cooperate constantly with the Department for Prevention within the
General Inspectorate of the Police and the Public Order
Directorate within the
General Police Directorate of Bucharest, with the Department for the Protection
of the Child, with the representatives
of the central administration and the
regional services, with the Special Representative of UNICEF to Romania, with
other international
organizations and with domestic and foreign NGOs in the
field.
2. Children deprived of their liberty,
including any form of detention,
imprisonment or placement in custodial
settings
(art. 37 (b), (c), and (d))
- The
Romanian Constitution guarantees the individual liberty and safety of each
person (art. 23, para. 1). The guarantee of liberty is a basic rule
of the
penal process (art. 5, para. 1). Anyone under penal
investigation or trial must be treated with respect for human dignity.
Subjecting
someone to torture or cruelty, inhumanity or degradation is
punishable under the law. Searching, detaining or arresting a person
is
strictly controlled by the legal procedures (art. 23,
para. 1).
- There
are no special regulations for minors different from those for adults regarding
prevention measures (detaining for 24 hours,
the obligation to remain in the
city for 30 days, preventive arrest for 30 days with the possibility of
extending the term by court
ruling) (articles 144, 145, 146, 149 of
the Criminal Procedure Code).
- Pre-trial
detention is possible only with a warrant issued by a magistrate
(article 23, paragraph 4 of the Constitution). The circumstances
leading to arrest are specified by the Criminal Procedure Code (arts. 143,
148). Detained or arrested persons
must be immediately informed of the reasons
for their detention or arrest. The charge is brought to the attention of the
defendant
as soon as possible, in the presence of a lawyer
(art. 137).
- Legal
counselling by lawyers is obligatory for minors in all of the phases of a penal
trial and is a guarantee for the exercise and
respect of procedural rights
(article 1717, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Procedure Code). In the
absence of a chosen lawyer one has
to be provided. Upon the decision to detain
a minor the prosecutor or judge has to inform a member of the family or a person
designated
by the family within 24 hours (art. 137, para. 2). Legal
counselling being mandatory, the investigator will make sure that the lawyer
is
present when the defendant is being heard. The arrested defendant has the right
to contact his/her defence counsel. Exceptionally,
when it is in the interest
of the penal investigation, the prosecutor by default may issue a motivated
order to suspend counsel’s
contact with the defendant for a maximum of
five days (art. 172, para. 5). Contacting the lawyer cannot be forbidden
on the extension
of the detention by the judging instance and it is mandatory
when the evidence is presented (art. 172, para. 6).
- The
special stipulations regarding minors who are in pre-trial detention
include:
(a) The possibility for the investigator to subpoena,
if necessary, the representative of the tutelary authority, the parents, the
guardian, or the person to whom the minor has been entrusted when the minor is
to be heard (article 481, paragraph 1, of the Criminal
Procedure
Code). Subpoenaing the aforementioned persons is mandatory when the evidence is
presented (article 481, paragraph 2 of
the Criminal Procedure
Code).
(b) While they are being detained or arrested, the minors are to
be kept separate from adults (art. 142).
- The
judging instance exercises control over the measures ordered by the prosecutor
in regard to detention, ruling on the same day
on the legality of the measure of
pre-trial detention when the minor files a complaint within 24 hours of his/her
detention. The
instance may maintain or revoke the measure. The complaint is
judged in the presence of the prosecutor and the defence. The judging
instances
alone may extend the measure of detention beyond the term of 30 days within the
limits set by the law. The person under
detention may ask for supervised
liberty under judicial control or bail (article 5 of the Criminal Procedure
Code). When the grounds
no longer exist for the maintaining of the detention,
it has to be revoked by default or on request (art. 139, para. 2).
The Criminal
Procedure Code also stipulates the situations when pretrial
detention ends de jure (art. 140).
- Criminal
investigations are carried out by prosecutors specializing in juvenile cases,
appointed by order of the General Prosecutor.
Certain police officers must also
specialize in inquiries involving minors at district level. Detention penalties
can apply to
minors only after a definitive court ruling. No penalty may be
applied outside the limits and grounds set by the law (article 23,
paragraph 9 of the Constitution). The penalties for minors currently includes
two means of deprivation of liberty: placement in a re-educational centre or
imprisonment.
- Placement
in a re-education centre can be ordered against a minor until he/she turns 18
and can be extended for no more than two years
if found necessary to meet the
educational conditions of the measure (article 101c), 104 of the
Penal Code). There are two re-education centres running at present in
Romania.
- Imprisonment
can be ordered against a minor within the limits stipulated by
law.
- Deprivation
of liberty may be shortened by release on parole, after at least one year from
the moment of placement in a re-education
centre and provided the minor has
shown evidence of improvement. Minors sentenced to imprisonment can be released
on parole if they
have served at least one third of a sentence of up to 10 years
and have demonstrated serious signs of improvement (art. 60, para.
2).
Once over 18, the conditions for parole are the same as for adults. In the case
of unintentional crimes, the portions of executed
sentences that must be served
before release on parole are smaller.
- At
present, there are sections for minors in adult penitentiaries which are
separate from adult sections and a prison for minors is
currently being
organized. Law 23/1969 (republished in 1972), now under revision,
stipulates the manner of serving sentences in
penitentiaries, the rights and
obligations while in detention, and the penalties applied. A new draft is
currently being prepared
by the Ministry of Justice for the law regarding
penalties and punishments. Law 23/1969, still in force, guarantees the
minors’
right to education by providing general and vocational education
with a view to their qualifying for a profession and social reintegration.
As
for the obligation to work, this can only be applied to a minor who has turned
15 and only with a doctor’s consent. Minors
may not be used for harmful
labour. Their rights to contact their families are more permissive than those
for adults. Minors may
not be placed in solitary confinement. Also, minors in
detention in penitentiaries have a more permissive right to leisure and
recreation
than adults and have to be provided with food fitting their age
needs. The manner of executing educational work in re-education
centres is
stipulated by Decree No. 545/1972.
- This
decree will soon be replaced by a new legal draft designed by the Ministry of
Justice regarding the execution of educational
measures for inmates of
re-education centres. The future centres for social rehabilitation will service
minors sentenced by court
ruling to educational measures, providing protection,
education and professional, psychological, medical and physical assistance
commensurate with the minor’s age, gender and personality, with a view to
harmonious development.
- These
new centres for social rehabilitation will operate on the principle of unlimited
access to education, study, equal educational
opportunities, and the
institutionalization of minors in the least restrictive environment. To this
effect, several types of social
rehabilitation centres will be designed: a
national centre for social rehabilitation (half open) and local centres for
social rehabilitation
(open). The conditions of detention will be applied with
impartiality, without discrimination, and with a view to protecting the
life and
health of minors, to develop their sense of responsibility, to encourage those
attitudes and abilities which may benefit
them in integrating in society and may
increase their chances of discontinuing contact with criminal environments, to
minimize the
differences between life in the centre and outside it, to develop
self-esteem, to ensure unlimited contacts with the family and with
the local
community in order to facilitate reintegration in society. Extensive
stipulations are made regarding the rights of minors
in accordance with the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, with guarantees for respect for those
rights by the trained staff of
the social rehabilitation centres. Disciplinary
penalties for misconduct during internship, stipulated by the law, may not
include
the suspension of the minor’s right to be visited by his/her
family and may not be degrading or inhuman. Within the limits
set by the law,
minors can attend local schools. To meet the set objectives, the centres for
social rehabilitation are staffed by
didactic, medical, psychological, social,
and security professionals.
- The
breakdown of minor penitentiary inmates on 1 June 1997 (source: The Ministry of
Justice/General Directorate of Penitentiaries)
was as follows:
Total minors: 2,662 of whom:
|
- in re-education centres
|
582
|
|
- in pre-trial detention
|
1,561
|
|
- imprisoned
|
519
|
|
|
|
The structure of minor convicts:
|
|
|
|
|
|
(a) by the type of crime:
|
- homicide
|
3%
|
|
- rape
|
7%
|
|
- robbery
|
20%
|
|
- causing death or serious injuries
|
1%
|
|
- theft of public property
|
1%
|
|
- theft of private property
|
64%
|
|
- assault
|
1%
|
|
- other
|
3%
|
|
|
|
(b) by gender:
|
- male
|
95%
|
|
- female
|
5%
|
|
|
|
(c) by age:
|
- 14-16
|
9%
|
|
- 16-18
|
52%
|
|
- over 18
|
39%
|
|
|
|
(d) by education level:
|
- under grade IV
|
18%
|
|
- in grade IV
|
9%
|
|
- graduates of grades V-VII
|
47%
|
|
- graduate of grade VIII
|
17%
|
|
- graduate of more then grades VIII
|
9%
|
|
|
|
(e) by professional qualification:
|
- qualified
|
2%
|
|
- in the process of qualifying
|
1%
|
|
- unskilled
|
97%
|
|
|
|
(f) by criminal record:
|
- with a previous record
|
4%
|
|
|
|
(g) by ethnic origin:
|
- Romanian
|
73%
|
|
- Hungarian
|
3%
|
|
- Rroma
|
23%
|
|
- other
|
1%
|
|
|
|
(h) by social environment:
|
- urban
|
65%
|
|
- rural
|
35%
|
C. Children in situations of exploitation
1. Economic exploitation (art. 32)
- The
Romanian legislation reflects the recommendations regarding labour relationships
concerning children under article 32 of the Convention,
according to the
stipulations of the Constitution, the Labour Code and other normative acts in
the field, and the penalties and punishments for infringements of such
stipulations
are governed by the Penal Code. The Romanian Constitution includes
the following stipulations:
(a) The forms of social protection
for children and young people are set by the law; exploitation of children,
their use for activities
that may harm their health or morality, or endanger
their life and normal development, are forbidden;
(b) The minimum age
for employment is 15;
(c) Public authorities are under the obligation to
contribute to ensure the conditions for the free participation of young people
in the economic life of the country.
- Additionally,
the Romanian legislation had to observe the principle of unlimited right to work
consecrated by the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, while the Constitution
stipulates that the right to work may not be limited and the choice of
profession and of a job are free.
- Pursuant
to article 161 of the Labour Code, employed children may not be placed in hard
or hazardous workplaces and may not be made
to work at night or beyond the legal
duration of a working day (eight hours), except for emergencies and exceptional
situations.
- Young
employees under 18 have the right to a minimum holiday of 24 working days (Law
6/1992 and GD 250/1992). The computation is
made by considering the age of the
young employee on 1 January of that year. Employees with an
invalidity/disability are entitled
to an additional three days’ holiday
each year. Any convention according to which the young employee renounces
partially or
entirely his/her right to a holiday is illegal.
- As
regards the penalties, the Penal Code (art. 191) incriminates the act of
subjecting a person, in circumstances other than those
defined by the law, to
labour against his/her will or to mandatory labour (the penalty for such an
infringement is six months to
three years’ imprisonment). Article 184
stipulates a three-month to two-year penalty of imprisonment for involuntary
bodily
harm when this is the result of infringements of legal dispositions or of
the measure of prevention of exercising a certain profession
or
activity.
- However,
there have been cases where the existence of a black labour market often makes
inoperative the legal dispositions for the
special protection of working
children, despite the efforts of the State to gain control over the employment
situation. It has become
obvious that the labour legislation for children can
be improved by a better identification of the public and private institutions
and of the measures to be taken.
- With
the development of specialized public services (whose task is to monitor the
rights of the child and, implicitly, the exploitation
of children), the
Department for the Protection of the Child is aiming to run programmes in
cooperation with local authorities to
support families with limited material
capabilities and several children and to analyse the situation of these parents
with a view
to their employment, as most of the children found in unsuitable
labour relationships come from such families.
2. Drug abuse (art. 33)
- Article
312 of the Penal Code incriminates drug trafficking. This crime is defined as
the production, holding, or carrying out any
operation regarding the circulation
of toxic or narcotic substances, the cultivation in order to process of plants
containing such
substances, or experimenting with toxic products and substances
without a licence. Paragraph 3 of article 312 stipulates penalties
of one to
five years’ imprisonment and the suspension of certain rights for medical
doctors who unnecessarily prescribe narcotic
products or substances. It also
stipulates as an aggravating circumstance organizing or permitting narcotic
products and substances
to be consumed; this raises the penalty to 3-15
years’ imprisonment and the suspension of certain rights. No special
mention
is made of such crimes involving children, but the current stipulation
applies to the involvement of children. The modified form
of Law 61/1991,
article 2, stipulates that serving alcoholic drinks to minors in public places
constitutes an infringement.
- As
regards international conventions in this domain, Romania is a party to the 1971
Convention on Psychotropic Substances and the
1988 Convention against the
Illicit Traffic of Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances to which Romania
formally adhered by Law 118/1992.
- Romania
started facing this problem only after 1989 when, with the opening of the
borders and having a geo-strategic position she
became a focal point for this
criminal phenomenon. The transiting, production, commercialization and
consumption of drugs became
a part of everyday life: the police are faced with
dealers and producers and consumers who often become dealers themselves. It
is
noteworthy that it is already possible for the addicts to obtain medical
services for detoxification. It has been noted that
high school students have
increasingly become drug consumers, with the drug dealers moving on to county
high schools after having
covered the ones downtown.
- By
mid-1996 there were no data regarding drug consumption in Romania. In 1995, the
Institute for Hygiene, Public Health and Health
Services ran a study on alcohol,
tobacco, and drug consumption among the adolescents of Romania. Adolescents
were interviewed through
a standard, self-administered questionnaire. The
sample consisted of 919 adolescents from all kinds of high schools (theoretical,
economic, industrial, theological, art). Eight hundred and twenty-nine answered
the questions as required. The results of the study
showed the
following:
− the best-known drugs are heroin (the most consumed), cocaine, marijuana,
hashish;
− the most frequent sources of procurement are the family and
friends;
− most of the interviewees claimed they never consumed drugs (92.8 per
cent);
− the consumers procured the drugs from their friends (4.2 per cent) and
family (3 per cent);
− on evaluation of the sincerity of the answers it was revealed that only
65 per cent of the girls and 55 per cent of the boys
were
honest.
- Although
the phenomenon is widespread in schools and universities, there is one
fundamental problem: non-admission of drug consumption
both by the students and
by the managers of the educational facility, which prevents the specialist teams
from entering such schools
in order to run programmes for the prevention of drug
and alcohol consumption.
- With
the founding of the National Pilot Centre for the Treatment of Addicts in
Bucharest in 1996, the first data were generated regarding
persons who were
hospitalized for drug consumption. The Centre operates within the
Detoxification Section of the Prof. Dr. Gh. Marinescu
Hospital and can
accommodate 30 patients. From June 1996 to May 1997, 334 patients were
hospitalized, mostly from Bucharest (78
per cent), some from other areas in the
country (14 per cent) and 8 per cent foreign nationals. Only 9 cases are
patients under
18 (2.69 per cent), but unfortunately a 14-year-old was
hospitalized who had a three-year experience of drug consumption. Most of
the
hospitalized patients were unemployed (62 per cent), 31 per cent are
employees, and 7 per cent are students. Heroin and cannabis
are smoked as a
cigarette or “joint”, a method deemed less expensive and more
efficient. Injected heroin is a much less
frequent solution. Of the
therapeutic chain of addicts only drug addictions are being treated in
Romania.
- To
limit the expansion of this phenomenon, a number of projects have been
initiated:
(a) A multidisciplinary training joint project of
the General Inspectorate of the Police/Service for the Fight against Organized
Crime and the Institute for the Management of Health Services in Bucharest.
This is a project of assistance towards the designing
of a national strategy in
the field;
(b) The PHARE project for the training of staff in the field
of drug demand reduction, run jointly by the Pompidou Group of the Council
of
Europe, the Health Division of the City of Bucharest, and the above-mentioned
institute. The training targeted two types of specialists:
health service
planners and professionals for the practical actions of prevention, therapy, and
rehabilitation;
(c) The “Reduce the exposure of children and
adolescents to drugs” project designed by the Department for the
Protection
of the Child in November 1997 and addressed to the G-24 in response
to the call of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to
the States of the
world to find ways to fight this phenomenon together. The project is in
agreement with the governmental strategy
for reform in the field of the rights
of the child as it rests on an interactive system at three levels: prevention,
detoxification
therapy and therapeutic community, the basis of social
integration
3. Sexual exploitation/sexual abuse (art. 34)
- Although
Romanian legislation does not use the terms “sexual violence”,
“sexual abuse”, “sexual exploitation”,
or
“pornography”, their content is fully covered by the penal
legislation which incriminates what the Penal Code includes
under the chapter
heading “Crimes against Sexual Life”. Thus, in regard to sexual
violence and abuse, stipulations are
made for rape (art. 197), sexual
relations with a minor (art. 198), seduction (art. 199), sexual relations with
persons of the same
gender (art. 200), sexual perversion (art. 201), sexual
corruption (art. 202), incest (art. 203).
- In
all these cases, the act is criminalized only because the minor is a victim
(relations with a female minor, seduction, sexual corruption),
or, in the case
of other infringements, aggravating circumstances are stipulated when the victim
of sexual violence or abuse is a
minor (rape, sexual relations with persons of
the same gender, sexual perversion). In certain situations, as in the case of
article
200, paragraph 5, and article 201, paragraph 5, penalties are also
stipulated for prompting or tempting a person to have sexual relations
with
persons of the same gender or sexual perversion, together with propaganda or
association or any act of encouragement for the
same purposes.
- Special
protection is offered by means of the penal law to minors under 14 who may
become victims of sexual violence and abuse. Law
140/1996 for the modification
and completion of the Penal Code increased the penalties for rape against a
female minor under 14 from
3-10 years to 10-20 years’ imprisonment. Penal
action is initiated by default in the case of minor victims.
- As
regards sexual exploitation, stipulations are made for the crime of sexual
procurement consisting in urging or forcing a person
to prostitution or
facilitating prostitution or gaining benefits from another person’s
prostitution, or recruitment of a person
for prostitution or trafficking for
this purpose (art. 329, para. 1). The penal law also stipulates an aggravating
circumstance
in the case of procurement of minors with a penalty of 3-10
years’ imprisonment.
- Another
stipulation is made for the action of selling, disseminating, making, or
possessing in order to disseminate objects, pictures
or any material of an
obscene character (art. 325). The Penal Code does not punish separately
the act of involving a minor in pornography
or using a minor in shows of an
obscene nature. Law 48/1992 regarding the audiovisual media penally punishes
activities of an obscene
nature or against morality.
- The
Romanian Penal Code contains the principle of extraterritoriality of the penal
law, which allows for the trying of both Romanian
and foreign citizens who
commit sexual violence, abuse or exploitation or disseminate obscene materials
(the personality, reality,
and universality of the penal law - articles 4, 5, 6
of the Penal Code).
- Within
the penal process it is possible, on request from the parties, the prosecutor or
by default, for the judging instance to declare
the session secret if a public
session would be “against the morality, dignity, or privacy of a
person” (article 290,
paragraph 2 of the Penal Code). The right to
privacy is thus guaranteed of the minors who have been victims of sexual
violence,
abuse or exploitation or have been involved in pornography.
- In
August 1996, during the World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of
Children in Stockholm, the first national study
was made entitled “The
sexual exploitation and abuse of the child”. It was the first time an
official document recognized
the existence of this painful phenomenon and the
urgent need to act in cooperation for prevention and efficient and diversified
intervention.
The study was done by the National Committee for the Protection
of the Child of the Romanian Government in cooperation with the
Save the
Children Organization (for the chapters regarding homeless children) and with
the support of the UNICEF Representative for
Romania. The study was done in
association with the representatives of the ministries involved in the
protection of the child.
It has numerous annexes with statistics, which are
recognized as the known side of the phenomenon as opposed to another, less-known
side. There had hitherto been some specialists, especially from NGOs, who
pointed out the negative impact of such misfortunes on
the harmonious future
development of the children. Naturally, the media were eager to uncover such
cases, which, basically, made
their publications and shows more
profitable.
- From
1990 to the first half of 1997, the prosecutor’s offices had 1,254 penal
cases to solve whose objects were crimes of a
sexual nature against minors
(source: General Prosecutor attached to the Supreme Court of Justice).
Twenty-two cases are in the
process of being solved as penal inquiries and 48 as
trial cases. The following statistics obtained, by category:
− rape (art. 197) 777
− sexual relations with a female minor (art. 198) 41
− seduction (art. 199) 8
− sexual relations with persons of the same gender (art.
200) 242
− sexual perversion (art. 201) 285
− sexual corruption (art. 202) 81
− incest (art. 203) 29
- The
victims of these crimes were minors ages 4-17 and the authors were aged 15-70.
Four of the criminals were foreign nationals who
committed these crimes on
Romanian territory: two Germans, one Norwegian, one Arab. For these crimes the
judging instances ruled
sentences of imprisonment from 1 to 10 years. In very
few of the cases it ruled for a parole.
- The
Emergency Ordinance of the Government No. 26/1997 regarding the protection of
the child in difficulty creates the necessary legislative
framework for the
protection of the minor who is a victim of sexual violence and abuse or is in
such danger, and it offers options
for protection of a family type, or, in
extreme cases, of an institutional type.
- The
creation of specialized public services for the protection of the child at the
level of local public authorities makes it possible
to identify families with a
higher risk in this field and to offer solutions to concrete situations which
are forwarded to the Commission
for the Protection of the Child. These are the
bases for the prevention of sexual violence and abuse in the
family.
- Psychological
and psychiatric offices were established within hospitals and clinics or
privately which offer assistance for victims
of sexual violence and abuse. They
are, however, insufficient and do not cover the whole range of needs of sexually
abused children
from underprivileged families or homeless
children.
- The
number of persons with definitive convictions for the above-mentioned crimes
in 1994-1996 was 5 per cent of the total number of
convictions. This means
a slight drop in the number of persons sentenced for rape (minor victims) from
338 to 310 in 1996 as compared
to 1995. However, the number of persons
convicted for procurement rose from 78 in 1995 to 119 in 1996. A number of
foreign paedophiles
were registered in Romania whose victims were homeless
children. Female minor prostitution is sometimes a form of sexual exploitation
(by parents, relatives, procurers), sometimes a means of living for abandoned
female minors. One hundred and fifty-eight persons
were convicted for
prostitution in 1996 (including minors), which is 224.4 per cent more than the
mere 49 in 1995.
- The
media (specialized publications, dailies, radio and TV shows) had an important
role in raising public awareness and in creating
a public feeling of
condemnation and adversity to sexual violence and abuse, especially in 1996 and
1997. There are periodic contacts
between the editors of certain publications
and radio or TV shows and the Ministry of Justice, the General
Prosecutor’s Office
at the Supreme Court of Justice, the General
Inspectorate of the Police, the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of
National
Education and the Department for the Protection of the Child in order
to create specific forms of education for the youth and the
parents to prevent
such harmful practices with children and young people. Special separate or
joint programmes are developed especially
by the Ministry of Internal Affairs,
Police Inspectorates, the Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Public
Health, the
Department for the Protection of the Child, NGOs (Save the Children,
Our Children, etc.), the UNICEF Representative and the local
authorities. Part
of the conclusions drawn as a result of such programmes were not yet evaluated
and addressed for lack of adequate
funding.
- By
order of the General Prosecutor attached to the Supreme Court of Justice, the
prosecutors specializing in minor cases (appointed
to run penal inquiries of
minor defendants) will also service cases where minors are victims of penal
cases. Significant progress
was made in raising public awareness and
sensitizing authorities of the size and implications of this phenomenon and of
the need
to organize a common strategy to fight such practices, as well as in
creating with the third term of 1997 of the specialized public
services for the
protection of the child at the level of the local authorities and the
commissions for the protection of the child.
4. Sale, trafficking and abduction (art. 35)
- The
Convention on the Rights of the Child stipulates as a duty of the States parties
the obligation to take all necessary measures
at a domestic, bilateral, and
multilateral level to prevent the selling and trafficking of children under any
form and for any purpose.
- The
current Romanian legislation has no special stipulation regarding unaccompanied
minors illicitly in countries other than their
own, so that minors are treated
just like adults travelling illicitly and are consequently repatriated in
accordance with the bilateral
agreements signed by Romania.
- As
for domestic law, the Constitution proclaims individual liberty and the
inviolability of a person’s safety. Together with constitutional
stipulations, article
103 of the Family Code stipulates the right of parents to
ask for the return of the child from any person who unlawfully has the
child in
his/her possession.
- The
Penal Code incriminates kidnapping as the crime of unlawfully depriving a person
of his/her liberty and is punished with 1-5 years’
imprisonment. If the
depriving of liberty is accomplished through kidnapping and if the victim is a
minor then the penalty is 5-12
years’ imprisonment.
- Romania
adhered to the Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child
Abduction through Law 100/1992. Pursuant to article
6, paragraph 1, of the
Convention, the Ministry of Justice was appointed as the central authority for
carrying out the obligations
entailed by it.
- Starting
with 1993, the Department for Foreign Relations and European Integration within
the Ministry of Justice received a number
of 35 requests, of which 25 from
parties residing abroad, for children who had been illicitly transferred onto
Romanian territory.
Another 10 requests came from Romanian citizens who
complained against the illicit transfer of children on the territory of another
State party to the Convention. Fifteen of the total number of requests have
been solved favourably by an understanding between the
parties or by the
intervention of the authorities; seven other cases were declined by the Romanian
authorities on the basis of article
13, paragraph 2, and articles 27 and 35
of the Convention. In another three cases the minors could not be found on
Romanian territory
or in another State indicated in the request. The central
Romanian authority benefits from the support of the police to locate children
who are the object of such requests. The solving of such cases is very
difficult given the incomplete domestic legislation regarding
the application of
this Convention. The central Romanian authority is understaffed and the police
are sometimes reticent to execute
a court order for the return of the
children.
- Non-governmental
initiatives (the Save the Children organization in cooperation with the
International Social Service) led to inquiries
and programmes meant to define
the size and problems related to this phenomenon and to assist children in such
situations. Through
such programmes 362 international cases were solved of
which 147 regarded unaccompanied minors. Most of the unaccompanied minors
who
flee to a different country are aged 15-17 (85 per cent).
- The
analysis of causes of the minors’ decision to leave the country identified
the following main causes:
− precarious economic conditions (49 per cent)
− a misguided spirit of adventure (36 per cent)
− group influence (15 per cent)
- By
gender, the majority of cases are males (74 per cent). By provenance, 85 per
cent come from an urban environment. By nationality,
59 per cent are Romanian
children, 15 per cent Rroma children, 6 per cent Hungarian, and 4 per
cent Germans. Notably, the percentage
of Rroma children fleeing the country is
higher than the percentage of this ethnic group in the Romanian
population.
- The
provenance of the children shows that 60 per cent come from families (63 per
cent of which are separated). Orphans and abandoned
children are under 10
per cent; 16 per cent of the cases regard infants who were abandoned in
maternities. The vast majority of
children (83 per cent) come from
families with more than four children. Of the 147 unaccompanied minors, 63 per
cent returned to
the country to their natural family or a childcare
institution.
D. Children belonging to an indigenous group or an ethnic
minority (art. 30)
- According
to the basic law of Romania, the State acknowledges and guarantees the right of
a person belonging to an ethnic minority
to preserve, develop, and express
his/her ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and religious identity. This stipulation
of the Constitution is supported by several legislative and administrative
measures ensuring the exercise of this right in the various fields of activity,
measures which have already been mentioned in different chapters of this report.
Here are a few aspects regarding the activity of
the Ministry of Culture and the
Ministry of Youth and Sports regarding ethnic minorities, together with
considerations regarding
the Rroma minority in Romania.
Ministry of Culture
- According
to the objectives and strategy of the Ministry of Culture and of its specialized
department (Ethnic Minorities Department),
a programme was initiated to set the
permanent logistical, material, and expertise framework for the safeguarding,
conservation,
research, valorization, development, and free expression of the
essential aspects of the ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and religious
identity of
minorities, as well as for ethnic and inter-ethnic tolerance.
- In
recent years, the sums allocated to the Ethnic Minorities Department grew
from 173 million lei in 1996 to 400 million lei in 1997,
and 1,730
million lei in 1998. Due to this spectacular growth in its budget, as well as
to the permanent cooperation with its main
partners (NGOs for ethnic minorities
in Romania, the Department for the Protection of Ethnic Minorities of the
Romanian Government,
the Council for Ethnic Minorities, the district Cultural
Inspectorates), the Ministry could organize 110 specific cultural activities
as
opposed to 57 in 1996 and 80 in 1997. These activities
included:
- − Cultural
days of the German, Slovak, Serbian, Ukrainian, and Rroma
minorities;
− An exhibition dedicated to the history of the Jews in Romania, shown in
Vienna;
− Choral and instrumental music and religious celebrations of the
Hungarian and German minorities;
− Folk festivals, contests, creative camps of the ethnic
minorities;
− Theatre and music shows and contests in the districts of Arad, Bihor,
Cluj, Covasna, Harghita, Maramures, Mures, Sibiu, Timis,
Tulcea;
− Support for the transportation of music bands and dance ensembles to the
various international festivals;
− Anniversaries of personalities of the Hungarian, German, and Ukrainian
ethnic minorities;
− Research and publication of brochures and catalogues showing the
contribution to the cultural heritage of the ethnic
minorities;
− Scientific meetings and symposiums in Cluj, Constanta, Satu
Mare;
− Exhibitions in Bucharest, Sibiu, etc.
Ministry of Youth and Sports
- The
Ministry of Youth and Sports was implicated in and supported varied projects and
programmes for the ethnic minorities. Of the
47 programmes funded for 1998, we
would like to mention the series of events organized by the Student Council
“Venczel Jozsef”
Harghita, the Hungarian Student Council Salaj, and
the Hungarian High School Students Union of Romania, together with those
organized
by the Hungarian, German, and Serbian youth and student associations.
Some of the aspects covered by the broad spectrum of these
activities
were:
− Cultural exchanges, inter-ethnic cohabitation models, identity and
inter-culturalism;
− Meetings of NGOs and their leaders, courses for the formation of youth
leaders, special training for the leaders of local
youth associations in
Covasna;
− Publishing reviews, bulletins, brochures, environmental protection
magazines;
− Public awareness campaigning for European
integration;
− The European/international week for the fight against
racism;
− Scientific meeting, training course on the use of the Internet,
student-teacher-parent training, training for students;
− Competitions, festivals, meetings of folk dance
ensembles;
− Tourism, work, folk camps, etc.
Considerations regarding the situation of the children
belonging to the Rroma minority
- According
to the data provided by the latest census in Romania (January 1992), the number
of declared Rroma citizens was 409,723,
which is 1.8 per cent of the total
population, the second largest minority in Romania after the
Hungarian.
- Two
additional estimates were made of the real size of the Rroma population, as it
is known that a good part of this population refuse
to declare their genuine
ethnic identity for various reasons. A first estimate was made by Mihai Merfea
yielding 1,180,163 (5.14
per cent of the Romanian population). The study
“Gypsies between ignorance and concern” used successive estimate
criteria
which led to a figure of 1,010,646 (4.6 per cent).
- Below
is the point of view of the Save the Children organization - Romania regarding
the situation of the Rroma children and claiming
we are still far from a
situation where the rights of the children of this ethnic minority are
respected.
- Although
measures of a legislative nature have been taken in the field of education, they
are only sparsely carried out due to inadequate
funding and to the mentality
resistance of those called to execute them. Rroma children are still
discriminated against in schools
and the teaching staff show very little concern
for drawing them to an understanding of the educational process. This is due to
prejudices claiming ab initio that the Rroma child is incapable of falling in
with the school discipline and less endowed for study.
No interest is shown for
the personal abilities of the child and for the limited material capability of
the family to ensure the
child’s integration with the rest of his/her
peers. There is no encouragement for intercultural education which might in
time
lead to the formation of a “majority” generation capable of
understanding and accepting specific ethnic differences.
No abstraction can be
made of the influence of families on the Rroma children who are often denied the
opportunity to come to school
for fear of persecution or of loss of Rroma
traditions, or simply from too much poverty. No concrete measures were taken
for the
improvement of the situation of these families, such as professional
training and integration, ensuring sanitary lodging, etc.
- These
precarious living conditions have a negative influence on the health of the
children who suffer from an early age from diseases
generated by malnutrition,
poverty, and lack of hygiene. To these are added the lack of a sanitary
education of family and children,
the lack of permanent sanitary assistance, the
scarcity of medical staff willing to work with the Rroma, and, not the least of
these,
the absence of programmes by the Ministry of Public Health (such as
mobile dispensaries, for instance) regarding these underprivileged
groups.
- The
marginal status leaves a deep mark on the personality of the Rroma children and,
often out of a spirit of self-preservation and
of revolt, they become violent
very early in their lives. The identity problem is one of survival and in order
to survive they use
all means, sometimes against the law.
- The
fact of a large number of Rroma delinquents is not entirely their own fault, but
that of the society that oftentimes rejects them.
In fact, the media are
playing a negative role in this respect, as they publish detailed accounts of
abominable crimes when they
are committed by the Rroma, thus maintaining a
breach between this ethnic group and the majority, with no room for a change of
mentality
on either side.
- The
few programmes which are aimed to treat the Rroma minority with respect and
understanding and to support Rroma children were initiated
by NGOs, whether
Rroma or not: Foundation for an Open Society, Rromani Criss, Aven Amentza, Save
the Children, Foundation for the
Development of the Civil Society, UNICEF, etc.
But these rather small-scale projects should be taken up, developed, and funded
by
the State in order to obtain a more visible result
nationwide.
Initiatives for the Rroma minority
- The
promotion and funding of initiatives for the Rroma children and families belong
to both governmental and non-governmental organizations
and are an important
beginning for the partnership aimed at improving the living conditions for this
minority and to promote the
rights of their children.
- All
initiatives, programmes, and projects of the Department for the Protection of
the Child start from the principle of non-discrimination,
and are thus dedicated
to all children in difficulty, including, and possibly starting with, the Rroma
children. The new protection
system for the child in difficulty promoted after
1997 starts from the evaluation of existing needs at the level of each community
and the development of adequate projects for these specific needs and the
resources of each community. The result is the promotion
of the most suitable
alternative community-integrated services to meet the needs of the target
population.
- The
Ministry of Labour and Social Protection coordinates two social services
projects within the EU/PHARE SESAM Programme for Social
Services addressed to
the Rroma families in Cluj and Harghita and proposing to integrate in society
the underprivileged population
through the diversification and development of
social, educational, and health programmes.
- The
Ministry of Youth and Sports, together with the “Good Samaritan”
Foundation, worked jointly to organize and develop
the seminar on
“Reintegration of the young Rroma in civil society”. The same
Ministry provided the funding for the organization
by the cultural, artistic and
tourist association “Fageteana” of the activity entitled
“Education through art of
the young Rroma”.
- The
Ministry of Internal Affairs cooperates with the civil society in running
programmes for crime prevention among the Rroma along
the following
lines:
− Knowing the needs and special traits of the Rroma ethnic minority for
equal and nondiscriminatory treatment;
− Presenting the concern of the police to solve the special problems of
the Rroma ethnic minority with respect for the rights
and liberties of the
citizens;
− Partnership activities to defuse tensions and conflicts in local
communities, especially those where Rroma live;
− Crime prevention programmes within the Rroma ethnic minority in order to
change its image for the rest of the population.
- Below
are some of the partnership activities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
together with the Rroma NGOs:
(a) The Young Rroma Generation
Society:
− “The Policeman, the man next to us” - 1995, activities in
five districts;
− “Parents and their children” - 1996, study and social
intervention in the Ferentari quarter,
Bucharest;
(b) Rromani Criss:
− Training Rroma activists in the field of Rroma-police relations,
1997;
− Police participation in the working groups at the organization’s
headquarters, 19961997;
(c) The Christian Centre of the
Rroma:
− “Invitation to cooperation”, 1995;
− Social intervention in the Rroma community in Medias (the Rroma ethnic
minority-the Sibiu Police), 1997;
− Crime prevention programme for the Rroma, 1997-1998;
(d) The Rroma ethnic community of Romania: meetings between the Rroma
ethnics (silver workers), the police, and the local administration
in the Buzau
and Bacau districts;
(e) The Phoenix Foundation: the programme
“Racism and intolerance in education”, Braila, 1998;
(f) The
Alliance for the Union of the Rroma:
− Interventions for the mitigation of conflicts in Bucharest,
1998;
− Participation in the working group constituted by this
organization;
(g) The Rroma Party:
− Formation of partnerships at district level between branch chiefs and
officers in the prevention squads, 1998;
− Facilitation of communication for the solving of problems in Prahova,
Constanta and Ilfov counties;
− Identification and prioritizing of the problems of the Rroma ethnic
minority in the counties with Rroma Party branches.
- Apart
from these partnership activities with the Rroma civil society, 25 meetings were
organized (1996-1998) between the police, local
ethnic leaders and the
administration regarding situations arising in certain communities and the need
to defuse local conflicts.
The partnership also involves training of Rroma
councillors at city-hall level regarding the legislation on population
record-keeping.
- Another
concern of the Ministry of Internal Affairs has been participation at
international meetings debating the relationship between
the Rroma ethnic
minorities and the authorities, such as the participation in the working group
organized by the European Centre
for Dialog in Turvey, United Kingdom. The
presentations “The role of the policeman in a multi-ethnic
multiconfessional society”
and “Facilitating communication between
the police and the Rroma for a better community life” were highly
appreciated
for their pragmatic spirit.
IX. CONCLUSION
- We
would like to end by pointing out that in compiling the present report we have
been constantly bearing in mind the final observations
of the Committee on the
Rights of the Child adopted at its 130th meeting after the consideration of the
initial report by Romania
(CRC/C/3/Add.16) and the written replies to the list
of issues relating to the initial report.
- Special
consideration was given to the main causes of concern expressed by the Committee
on the Rights of the Child regarding legislative
reform, the situation of
children belonging to ethnic minorities, child abuse and neglect, and the
measures adopted for the training
of personnel for the protection and promotion
of the rights of the child dealt with in the different chapters of the report so
as
to reflect on the present situation in Romania.
- The
same special attention was given to the suggestions and recommendations made to
Romania and we believe we can safely claim that
important steps have been taken
in our country in March 1997 for the initiation of the reform of the system for
the protection of
the child and for the promotion and genuine respect of the
rights of the child, through a continuous process of consolidation of
the new
legislative and administrative framework, as well as their permanent improvement
in accordance with the needs and resources
identified at the national and local
levels.
-----
[*] For the initial report submitted by the
Government of Romania, see document CRC/C/3/Add.16, for its consideration by the
Committee
see documents CRC/C/SR.120-122 and for the concluding
observations, see document CRC/C/15/Add.16
GE.02-43077 (E)
080802
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