30/11/2012 Standing Committee
30.11.2012 – Children ought to be separated from their parents only in very exceptional circumstances, PACE has said, expressing concern at the functioning of family courts in some Council of Europe member States.
Approving a resolution today at its meeting in Andorra, based on a report by Christopher Chope (United Kingdom, EDG), PACE’s Standing Committee said that a family environment offered the best conditions for the proper development of children.
“Before children are placed in the care of outsiders or in institutional care, their own families should be granted any assistance needed in order to cope with their problems,” the parliamentarians said.
The committee stressed that any adoption or placing in care should be fully in line with international standards – including the European Human Rights Convention and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child – and should give priority to the best interests of the child.