Island is open to considering judges deciding "some" custody cases.

BarcelonaThe President of the Generalitat (Catalan Government), Salvador Illa, has opened the door to studying a "more collective decision-making mechanism" so that the application of protective measures for minors in situations of vulnerability and at risk of abandonment, including the withdrawal of guardianship from the family, does not fall solely on an official from the Directorate General for Child and Adolescent Care. In fact, the President has proposed that "in some cases" a judge should intervene: "The public servant who must make the decision has a great deal of responsibility."

Illa stated that "in many cases" it is now a public official who decides on the custody of a minor. He emphasized that this is a decision of "great significance." "It is not granting a building permit," he gave as an example, and then recalled that the decision affects not only the rights of minors but also those of their parents.

The idea of involving judges has also been advocated by the Catalan Bar Council (Cicac). In a document approved a year ago, the body states that both the decision on the child's future and other protective measures should be adopted by judicial bodies "in order to provide greater legal certainty and guarantees to the parties."

Among other proposals included in a 22-page document, Cicac warns that the current system for declaring a child in a state of abandonment "creates defenselessness for families," since it is the exclusive responsibility of the administration and is only reviewed at the judicial level if there is a challenge. Therefore, the legal profession proposes that the declaration of abandonment and the adoption of protective measures be the responsibility of judges, at the proposal of the administration, and that they decide after hearing the parents, caregivers, and the affected child. To implement this proposal, the Organic Law of the Judiciary and the Civil Procedure Law, as well as related laws, would have to be amended to assign this power to the judiciary.

What can a judge dictate?

Unlike other territories, in Catalonia, the determination of guardianship is an administrative act and is not issued by a judge. The specialized technical teams that analyze the family situation and the risk to the minor make a proposal for abandonment to the DGAIA, which is the entity competent to carry out the removal of the child and assume its care and custody. A lawyer who represents families against the DGAIA's withdrawal criteria admits that "in many serious cases" he favors the courts ordering abandonment, because professionals in the child protection system often lack the capacity or training to consider the best future for children.

Regarding the refoundation of the DGAIA that the Catalan government has announced it has launched, the president of the Generalitat (Catalan government) asserted that the intention is not to "charge" those previously responsible, but rather to resolve the situation. However, he guaranteed that if "something wrong is found," the government will make it public, regardless of who is affected. "Even if they were people from my political party," he said.

Illa stated, however, that "everyone in charge at the DGAIA has tried to do the right thing" and that he doesn't believe anyone would want cases like that of the minor victim of a prostitution ring to happen.