Draft of the Convention on the Rights of the Family presented in Brussels

biuro MEP Marka Jurka

A draft of the international Convention on the Rights of the Family, prepared by experts of the Ordo Iuris Institute on the initiative of MEP Marek Jurek, was presented in the European Parliament. The document is intended to protect the rights of the family as a community, as well as the rights of parents and children, as an alternative to the ideological assumptions of the Istanbul Convention affecting the family in a negative manner. The principles of the Convention were presented for the first time in Warsaw.

DRAFT TEXT OF THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE FAMILY (DOWNLOAD HERE)

WHY DO WE NEED THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE FAMILY? (DOWNLOAD HERE)

Commentary to the draft Convention of the Rights of the Family, prof. David Forte, Ph.D. (DOWNLOAD HERE)

Official statement of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the draft Convention - translation (DOWNLOAD HERE)

 
The drafted act requires the states to take measures supporting the family and, above all, to protect the institution of marriage and to guarantee the autonomy of family life, as well as confirms the equal rights of spouses, the rights of parents, including the right to raise their child in accordance with their own beliefs, and the rights of children. The Convention also aims to protect family members from domestic violence, which is much more prevalent in non-marital partnerships than in families based on marriage. The document also excludes discrimination against families, especially the large ones.

 
"The purpose of the Convention is to create a guarantee of the legal identity and autonomy of the family, which have been increasingly challenged in recent years, also by international institutions lacking any mandate to do so. The family shall no longer be portrayed as a source of pathology and violence, contrary to the facts. To prevent this, we need a coalition of states based on a treaty that would clearly protect family and marriage," comments Dr. Tymoteusz Zych from the Executive Board of the Ordo Iuris Institute.

The Convention clarifies the meaning of concepts related to the functioning of the family. It defines such terms as "marriage", "sex", "the best interests of the child" or "violence" on the basis of what the legal doctrine has achieved to date. Its adoption is aimed at preventing attempts to undermine the identity of marriage as a union between a man and a woman and at reduction of the number of unjustified removal of children from families. The Convention also aims at improving the prevention of domestic violence. Moreover, the document assumes the creation of an International Committee on the Rights of the Family, which would be responsible for monitoring compliance with the provisions of the Convention by the ratifying countries.

"The document is intended as an alternative to the Istanbul Convention, often misleadingly referred to as the "Anti-Violence Convention". This act, under the cloak of fighting domestic violence, weakens the family, which it depicts as a source of pathology. In fact, it is precisely strong family, which constitutes the most effective shelter against violence for all its members", adds Karina Walinowicz, expert of the Ordo Iuris Institute.