Court/Judicial body: District Court of La Paz
Date: 19 November 2010 CRC
Provisions: Article 3: Best interests of the child
Other international provisions:International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 9American Convention on Human Rights, Article 7
Domestic provisions: Bolivian Constitution, Articles 6, 7, 9 Children and Youth Act, Articles 60, 61, 238
Case summary
Background: On July 24, 2008, the grandmother of M.A.O.V. and R.V. called the police to report that their mother was abusing the two children. The police responded and removed M.A.O.V. and R.V from the residence, and Bolivian social services proceeded to detain the children and perform psychological testing in order to verify the allegations. Based on these tests, Bolivian social services confirmed that the children had been abused and informed the children’s mother that she could not have custody of her sons. The mother then initiated a lawsuit claiming unlawful detention of her children.
Issue and resolution: Violence against children; best interests of the child. Looking at the evidence before it, the Court awarded custody of the children to the State.
Court reasoning: The District Court refused to grant custody of M.A.O.V. and R.V. to their mother, instead granting custody of the children to the State to prevent them from being harmed. The Court based its decision on several experts’ determinations that the children had been abused and that it would not be in their best interests to be in their mother’s custody.
Excerpt citing CRC and other relevant human rights as in full-text Spanish decision: I.1.2.Derechos supuestamente vulnerados Señala la vulneración de los derechos de sus hijos a la libertad física, a la libre locomoción y al debido proceso, citando al efecto citando al efecto los arts. 6.II, 7 inc. g) y 9 de la CPEabrg; y, 7 de la Convención Americana sobre Derechos Humanos, y 9.4 del Pacto Internacional de Derechos Civiles y Políticos (PIDCP). … De acuerdo a las consideraciones efectuadas, y conforme al mandato consagrado por el art. 410 de la Constitución Política del Estado vigente (CPE), al ser la Constitución la norma suprema del ordenamiento jurídico boliviano y gozar de primacía frente a cualquier otra disposición normativa, toda actuación de este Tribunal a objeto de cumplir el mandato constitucional y las funciones establecidas por los arts. 1 y 7 de la Ley del Tribunal Constitucional (LTC) y 4 de la Ley 003 de 13 de febrero de 2010, denominada Ley de Necesidad de Transición a los Nuevos Entes del Órgano Judicial y Ministerio Público, debe ser afín al nuevo orden constitucional en observancia y coherencia con los Tratados y Convenios Internacionales en materia de Derechos Humanos ratificados por el país y que forman parte del bloque de constitucionalidad. El referido entendimiento está acorde a lo previsto por los arts. 4.I y 6 de la Ley 003, que dispone que en la labor de resolución y liquidación de causas ingresadas hasta el 6 de febrero de 2009, el Tribunal Constitucional debe hacer prevalecer la primacía de la Constitución Política del Estado vigente. … La Convención sobre de los Derechos del Niño, en varios de sus artículos hace referencia a los derechos y deberes emergentes de la patria potestad, reconociendo las facultades de los progenitores, trazando los límites de la autoridad paterna y materna y regulando conductas exigibles con la finalidad del bienestar de los niños; en ese sentido, el art. 3.2 del citado cuerpo normativo, dispone que: “Los Estados Partes se comprometen a asegurar al niño la protección y el cuidado que sean necesarios para su bienestar, teniendo en cuenta los derechos y deberes de sus padres, tutores u otras personas responsables de él ante la ley…” lo cual importa por una parte, delimitar conceptualmente la institución, como ya se dijo, un conjunto de derechos y deberes y, por otra parte, consagrar una función subsidiaria y supletoria de la actividad estatal, la que debe respetar la esfera de funcionamiento de la autoridad de los padres.
CRIN English translation: I.1.2. Rights allegedly violated The mother claims that her children’s rights to physical liberty, freedom of movement, and due process have been violated, citing articles 6.II, 7 (a – g) and 9 of the abrogated Constitution of Bolivia, Article 7 of the American Convention on Human Rights and Article 9.4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). … In accordance with the considerations and with Article 410 of the current Constitution of Bolivia, being the highest law of Bolivia and having primacy over all other regulatory provisions, all actions of this tribunal must comply with the constitution and the functions of articles 1 and 7 of the Law of the Constitutional Court and Article 4 of Law 003 (13 February 2010) – The Law of Necessary Transition to the Public Ministry’s New Judicial Bodies. The aforementioned law requires legal institutions to obey and be consistent with ratified international treaties and agreements on human rights as they are part of the constitutional corpus. Thus, in accordance with the provisions of articles 4.I and 6 of Law 003, when resolving and settling lawsuits admitted until 6th February 2009 the Constitutional Court must give precedence to the current Constitution of Bolivia. … In a number of articles from the Convention on the Rights of the Child, reference is made to the rights and arising duties of parental custody, acknowledging parents’ rights, determining the limits of paternal and maternal authority and regulating enforceable conduct so as to assure the wellbeing of children. Article 3.2 of the aforementioned convention states that “States Parties undertake to ensure the child such protection and care as is necessary for his or her well-being, taking into account the rights and duties of his or her parents, legal guardians, or other individuals legally responsible for him or her…”. This, on the one hand, aims to conceptually delimit the family institution as a set of rights and duties, and on the other, establish a subsidiary and additional function of the State without prejudice to the defined authoritative role of the parent.
CRIN comments: CRIN believes this decision is consistent with the CRC. Children have the right to live free from violence under Article 19 of the Convention, and the Government has an obligation to ensure that children at serious risk of violence in the home must receive appropriate alternative care where this would be in their best interests.
Citation: Constitutional resolution: 2301/2010-R, File No.: 2008-18970-38-RHC
Link to full judgement: http://www.tribunalconstitucional.gob.bo/gpwtc.php?name=consultas&file=print&palabra=&id=20503