Parental Responsibilities: The Earthquake of Justice and the Need for Action

The landscape of parental responsibilities in Portugal remains alarming, with a judicial system that fails to protect those most in need of safeguarding: children. Despite progress in the equal treatment of fathers and mothers, serious problems such as parental alienation remain a constant, leaving families shattered and children as the main victims of a system that should protect them.

This situation is worsened by the unsustainable slowness of court proceedings. It is unacceptable — and a clear violation of human rights — for a case concerning a five-year-old child to drag on for six or seven years, often without any evidence having been produced. During this time, that child’s childhood passes by, and their psychological and emotional development suffers irreparable harm.

It is essential that maximum time limits be set for such proceedings, and imperative that they last no more than one year. Speed is not merely a matter of efficiency, but an ethical and legal imperative for safeguarding children’s rights.

The solution to this crisis also lies in the structural reform of children’s courts. These should be collegiate courts, composed of a panel of judges and specialists who ensure more balanced and well-founded decisions. In addition, it is essential to guarantee the independence of the Public Prosecution Service in these proceedings.

Children’s prosecutors must finally get out from under the judge’s gown. This expression, which aptly reflects the lack of autonomy, reveals a truth: in many cases, the Public Prosecution Service does not act as a true defender of the child, but rather as an extension of the judicial will. To ensure that independence, it is necessary for the Public Prosecution Service to stop sharing the same entrance as the judge and to operate under conditions that guarantee its impartiality.

The system’s failings do not end there. We live in a context in which young adults, victims of the judicial system as children, grow up with damaged psychological structures. Many lost one of their parents because of court decisions that allowed unjustified separations or that perpetuated conflict between the parents.

These young adults, marked by those failings, carry resentment towards all those involved in the process: the judge who decided, the prosecutor who did nothing to advance the matter, the social care professionals who failed, the lawyers who represented their parents without considering their welfare, and, often, their own parents.

It is imperative to ask: who will compensate these young adults, whose lives were harmed by errors on the part of the legislator and the judge? It makes sense for the State to assume responsibility for these failings, even if they date back decades. Civil liability should be considered as a way of acknowledging the harm caused and, more importantly, of preventing these injustices from being repeated.

The need for change is urgent. It is essential to create a judicial system that promotes swift proceedings, balanced decisions and genuine independence among the different actors involved. Moreover, society must join forces to humanise the debate on parental responsibilities, giving victims a voice and proposing practical and fair solutions.

Children’s courts must become a place where the protection and welfare of children are the absolute priority. This is not merely a matter of judicial reform; it is a matter of justice and humanity. The future of children cannot continue to be undermined by a system that insists on perpetuating the failings of the past. It is time to act, decisively and courageously, to build a system truly worthy of the name.