ADOPTION DURING THE WAR IN UKRAINE: HOW NOT TO LOSE A CHILD
Summary: 1. Introduction: children amid war in Ukraine. – 2. Information on children who suffered as a result of full- scale military operations. – 3. Legal mechanisms for ensuring the rights of children who were left without parental care during the war in Ukraine – 3.1. Reunification of adoptive parents with an adopted child. – 3.2. Transferring processes from placement of children to a digital format. – 3.3. Conditions for adoption and registration of children during martial law. – 3.4. Registration of candidates for adopters. – 3.5. Entities that can be adopters. – 3.6. Institute of Temporary Placement of Children in Ukraine. – 3.7. Institute of guardianship and care during martial law. – 3.8. Procedure for trial of adoption cases. – 3.9. National control mechanisms for displaced children. – 3.10. Foreign experience regarding the problem of “children of war”. – 4. Conclusions.
Abstract
The best way to make children good is to make them happy.
Oscar Wilde
Background: During martial law, the protection of children’s rights is of the utmost importance. One key aspect is the realisation of the right to raise a child in the family, and one of the ways this can be exercised is through adoption. However, martial law adoption has many nuances and pitfalls that require careful research.
Methods: In this article, the author carried out a comprehensive study of both the changes in the legislation of Ukraine in terms of adoption in the context of martial law and the alternatives that can be applied to adoption during wartime. In particular, the following issues were considered: reunification of adoptive parents with an adopted child evacuated outside of Ukraine; transfer of child placement processes to a digital format; adoption conditions and registration of children during martial law; peculiarities of registration of candidates for adoptive parents; circle of subjects who can be adoptive parents during martial law; the functioning of the institute of temporary placement of children in Ukraine and the institute of guardianship and care during martial law; peculiarities of the procedure for trial of adoption cases; and existing national control mechanisms for displaced children. The advantages of temporary placement over adoption during martial law and current practice in this regard are also analysed. In addition, the article provides statistical information about children who suffered as a result of a full-scale war, information about family forms of upbringing, information about the number of court proceedings in the category of adoption cases, as well as foreign experience in overcoming the problem of “children of war”.
Results and Conclusions: The result of this study is the determination of ways to solve the fate of children who were left without parents as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation, as well as clarification of the mechanisms of their functioning in practice.
About Authors
Yuliia Hartman
Master`s student, specialisation "Justice and judicial administration", Faculty of Law, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine
juliahrtmn1@gmail.com
https://orcid.org/0000-0002- 5637-8358
The author is solely responsible for the written text, research and its originality. Disclaimer: The author declares that her opinion and views expressed in this manuscript are free of any impact of any organizations. Competing interests: Any competing interests were included. The author expresses her sincere gratitude to Dr. Oksana Uhrynovska, Managing Editor of the AJEE, for her help and assistance during the publication process, valuable comments and suggestions, as well as the reviewers and English editor for their help.
Translation: The content of this article was translated in English by author. The Ukrainian version is available on the AJEE website.
Funding: The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The Journal provides funding for this article publication.
Managing editor: Dr. Oksana Uhrynovska. English Editor: Lucy Baldwin.
Copyright: © 2022 Yu Hartman. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
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Yu Hartman ‘Adoption during the war in Ukraine: How Not to Lose a Child’ 2022 4-2(17) Special Issue Access to Justice in Eastern Europe 156-172. https://doi.org/10.33327/AJEE-18-5.4-n000440
