The Human Rights Defender has always
raised the systemic issues related to the activities of the trusteeship and
custodianship bodies that have not been solved for years, through public their
speeches, announcements, annual reports, as well as by an extraordinary public
report published in 2017, and other means.
In 2020, the applications-complaints
addressed to the Defender mainly raised the issues related to the inactivity or
the improper implementation of its functions, to the legality of its
conclusions and decisions, and the improper guaranteeing of the rights of the
child of contact with their parents, grandparents and other relatives, and the
right to receive parental upbringing
It is remarkable that, according to the
data of the Municipality of Yerevan and the Ministry of Territorial
Administration and Infrastructure, they received almost no applications and
complaints about the activities of trusteeship and custodianship commissions in
the field of the protection of children’s rights during 2020. Meanwhile, during
2020, 85 written and oral complaints from 87 persons were addressed to the
Human Rights Defender on the activities of trusteeship and custodianship commissions
of different administrative districts of Yerevan and the communities of all the
regions of Armenia (mainly from Lori and Armavir regions) in the field of
protection of children's rights.
The Human Rights Defender noted that
during 2020, no effective measures were taken to improve the system of
protection of children's rights at the community level, and to solve the systemic
problems related to the activities of trusteeship and custodianship bodies. The
inadmissible practice of not conducting mandatory training on a regular basis
for members of the trusteeship and custodianship commissions remains relevant.
The proposals presented by the Defender's
annual report on the activities of the trusteeship and custodianship bodies
mainly referred to the following:
1.
To
exclude the principle of voluntarism of the activity of the members of the trusteeship
and custodianship commissions, and involve paid professionals, including
psychologists, pedagogues, and social workers, in the trusteeship and
custodianship commissions of all communities,
2.
Take
effective measures, including through the conducting of regular mandatory
trainings, to develop the professional skills of the members of the trusteeship
and custodianship commissions, and to increase the efficiency of their
activities,
3. set
the threshold of the educational qualification of the members of the trusteeship
and custodianship commissions and the clear requirements related to their professional
education,
4. establish
separate rules of conduct for the members of the trusteeship and custodianship
commissions, and clear measures of responsibility for their violation, as well
as measures to ensure their practical application,
5. establish
clear measures of responsibility for the non-performance or improper
performance of their functions by the trusteeship and custodianship bodies,
ensuring the predictability and certainty of their activities and their resulting
consequences,
6. ensure
that the best interests of the child are a primary consideration in the
exercise of their functions by the trusteeship and custodianship bodies, taking
an individual approach to the circumstances of the particular case in each
situation, as well guaranteeing the exercise of the child's right to be heard
in matters concerning them, regardless of their age.
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