Interesul superior al copilului
Child’s best interest

Summary/Abstract: The amendments brought by the Civil Code in the matter of paternal authority, of establishing the child’s residence and other measures which may be taken as regards children brought into the spotlight a universally applicable rule: the principle of the best interest of the child. Passing from a parental authority split in the Family Code, setting forth the entrusting of the child to one of the parents, transferring to the respective parent most of the parental authority, to the parental authority jointly and equally exercised raised a series of issues. Both the subjects of law involved, mainly parents, and the courts constantly appealed to a panacea: the best interest of the child, delivering different solutions on a case-by-case basis, without putting in question a non-uniform practice. This is why we may state that the best interest of the child has a different content related to each child separately and it cannot be defined as a general rule, in relation to all children. The content is also different regarding the same child who passes through several development stages, but also different situational contexts in which they are at a certain moment. That is why, the measures regarding children may be changed over time, risking to affect the stability of those legal relationships. The lawmaker rightly avoided to provide a clear definition of this dynamic and flexible concept following the child’s evolution, leaving the judge free to determine its content depending on several generic criteria. Therefore, we will try to determine the content of the principle of the best interest of the child based on a series of its practical applications.

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