Part III

Milena TOMESCU, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Bucharest, The Importance of Constitutional Case Law in Guaranteeing the Right of a Parent Separated from Their Child to Maintain a Personal Relationship with the Child

The provisions of Article 43 of the Family Code and Article 262(2) of the New Civil Code of 2009 regarding personal relations between a parent and a child from whom the parent has been separated are not only not unconstitutional, but also constitute an essential component of the right to family relations guaranteed by Article 26( (1) of the Romanian Constitution and Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and a means by which the authorities fulfill their obligations under Article 49(1) of the Fundamental Law.

In applying the relevant legal provisions, courts must take into account the importance of personal relationships with parents in a child’s development, as well as the rulings of the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights.

Keywords: personal relationships, right to family relations, best interests of the child