Public Debate on the Current Version of the Legislative Package on Child Protection

The General Secretariat of the Romanian Government is organizing, on April 23, 2003, in Bucharest, a public debate on the legislative package on child protection, the current version. Specialists, representatives of the public administration, international organizations, NGOs, representatives of the church, politicians and journalists were invited to participate in the debate.

The proposals, suggestions and opinions regarding the legislative package on child protection system in Romania can be submitted, in writing, to the General Secretariat of the Government (Bucuresti, Piata Victoriei nr.1, Sector 1) until May 5, 2003.

Background

In April 2002, The Romanian Government approved the Implementation Strategy of the measures set out in the Report drafted by the Independent Group for the Analysis of the International Adoption System in Romania (GIASAI) (http://www.afaener.org/Rapport_FINAL_ang.doc), which had as a main objective the analysis of the international adoption system and of the institutional capacity of the specialized institutions in Romania. The GIASAI Report underlined the necessity of the reform of the child protection system. Starting from the situation existing at that time, the report set out three main objectives of the implementation strategy:

1. Preparing a unitary and comprehensive child protection legislative framework by reassessing the existing legislation in order to harmonize it with the provisions of the international conventions; 

2. Strengthening the institutional capacity of the central structures responsible for child protection by establishing new governmental bodies  - National Authority for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (ANPDC) and Romanian Office for Adoptions (ORA) – based on different principles and on a new legislation, with enhanced regulatory, oversight and monitoring capability.

3. Stimulating the national system of training the specialized staff in the field of child protection, including the management and the organization of the specialized institutions, through the establishment of departmental institutions under the ANPDC;

During the year 2002, the General Secretariat of the Government and the National Authority for Child Protection and Adoption started the drafting process and finalized an initial version of the child protection legislative framework.  This initial version was sent to the central and local relevant authorities and to the international organizations active in child protection issues in order to allow them to express their point of view and to submit proposals for its improvement.

The proposals received were analyzed and included in the draft legislation if they were compatible with the principles on which the legislation was based upon.

On December 14, 2002 the legislative package was submitted to a public debate with the participation of the central and local public administration, international organizations, NGOs, mass media and academia. The participants in the debate made positive comments to the legislative package and brought up a series of theoretical aspects as well as some issues related to the implementation of the laws.

The legislative package was then sent to the European Commission in order to receive the point of view from this European body.

At the beginning of 2003 the experts of the European Commission submitted their observations and on this basis the current draft of the legislative package was prepared. The legislative package on child protection consists of:

The text of these draft laws can be accessed on line at: www.sgg.ro (in Romanian only).

For further information on the child protection legislation please log on to the National Authority for Child Protection and Adoption web site at: www.copii.ro (in Romanian and English)

After all the proposals, suggestions and opinions are received, the draft legislation will be finalized, sent for review to the relevant ministries and then approved by the Government.