Senator Titus Corlățean, President of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Romanian Senate and a senior member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Co
Senator Titus Corlățean, President of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Romanian Senate and a senior member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), has called for greater European scrutiny of child protection systems in several European countries, arguing that a growing body of judgments from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) points to broader structural problems affecting parental rights and family life.
Speaking during a meeting of the Venice Commission in the context of discussions on the execution of ECHR judgments, Corlățean said that numerous rulings against European states—particularly in cases involving parental rights, family reunification, child removals, and the right to private and family life—suggest the existence of systemic deficiencies rather than isolated incidents. He argued that many European countries, including Romania, face situations in which their citizens living abroad become involved in child protection proceedings that result in the separation of children from their families, often with serious consequences.
Corlățean also criticized what he described as insufficient oversight by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which is responsible under Article 46 of the European Convention on Human Rights for supervising the execution of ECHR judgments. According to the Romanian senator, the continued emergence of new Strasbourg rulings in similar cases indicates that some states have failed to implement the legislative, institutional, and administrative reforms required to address underlying problems. He argued that cases are too often closed before meaningful corrective measures have been adopted.
The senator informed members of the Venice Commission that the issue has already been the subject of serious discussions within the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and is expected to be reflected in the Assembly’s forthcoming biennial report on the non-execution of ECHR judgments by member states. He further suggested that the matter could eventually become a topic of examination by the Venice Commission itself, given what he described as the broader rule-of-law and human-rights implications.
Corlățean said that the reaction of the President of the Venice Commission to his intervention reinforced his belief that there is growing interest at the European level in examining these concerns. He also referred to discussions held earlier this year within PACE’s Legal Affairs Committee in Tallinn, Estonia, where he raised the case of Romanian minors Sara and Tiana Samson, criticizing the actions of Swedish social services and alleging violations of parental rights and international legal standards. He argued that the case reflects a wider issue that extends beyond a single family and is connected to what he described as unresolved systemic problems identified in multiple ECHR judgments involving child protection authorities in various European countries.
The Romanian senator pledged to continue pursuing the issue through European institutions, stating that Romanian authorities and parliamentarians would continue advocating on behalf of affected families. Corlățean called for a thorough examination of the conduct of social welfare authorities in cases involving cross-border family disputes and urged European institutions to ensure that member states fully implement ECHR judgments intended to safeguard fundamental rights, family life, and the rule of law.
Senator Corlățean has made a public statement, available here.
TRIBUNA.US
COMMENTS