Child Delivery Will Now Be Made Through Specialists

Divorced spouses with the regulation published in the Official Gazette will not apply to the enforcement offices, but to the “Legal Support and Victim Services Directorates” where experts work, in order to see their children.

Providing information about the process, Nevin Can, a lawyer from Izmir, said that the delivery will be made by experts in child interview centers designed as child-friendly.

Nevin Can said, “After the separation of the parents, the court decides to establish a personal relationship for the joint children to meet with the parents they do not live with. In our country, for years, the execution of the decision to establish a personal relationship was carried out through the executive directorates, like other decisions. Enforcement officers, whose duties were only to carry out legal proceedings and who had no training in areas such as child development or psychology, went to the house where the child lived, together with the police officers in the same situation, and forcibly handed him over to the other parent. This process often caused a serious trauma to very young children.”

EXPERTS WILL BE INCLUDED

Stating that experts were included in the process, Can said, “Child delivery, which has been a serious problem in Turkish law for years, finally entered the agenda of the parliament and amendments were made to the Enforcement Bankruptcy Law and the Child Protection Law with the law published in the Official Gazette on 30 November 2021. According to the amendment, it was envisaged that the task of the delivery of children would be taken from the enforcement directorates and given to the newly established directorate of legal support and victim services, and that psychologists, pedagogues and social workers would be assigned in the newly established directorate, unlike bailiffs and police officers.

WE WILL BE BROUGHT TO A SUITABLE PLACE

Noting that the regulation on child delivery entered into force on 4 August and the details of this process were determined, Lawyer Nevin Can said, “Accordingly, if one of the parties refuses to hand over the joint children to the other party, they are first contacted by any communication means at the legal support directorates and the child is determined. location will be requested. If the person concerned does not bring the child to the designated place, this situation will be notified once again in writing. Thus, it was tried to prevent the child from going to the house where he lived in the company of police officers and traumatizing the child. It will also be written in the content of the written notification that if the child is not brought to the designated place, a complaint will be made about the person concerned and disciplinary imprisonment up to three months will be imposed. If the child is not brought to the designated place despite all these, the directorate will file a complaint against him and initiate criminal proceedings.

CHILDREN ARE MOST AFFECTED

Nevin Can stated that these measures are positive and said, "With this change, the trauma caused by the forced delivery of children cannot be completely prevented, but it is seen that all possible measures have been taken to minimize it. However, it should not be forgotten that the only way to prevent children from experiencing trauma during the separation process, which is already stressful and most difficult for children, is for parents to leave their personal problems aside and try to work together on issues that concern their children alone and alone. Because, no matter how much effort is tried to correct the child's delivery process by official officials, it is absolutely against the child's best interest and this process should be avoided as much as possible.