The Right of a Child to Contact Relatives in Cross-Border Situations – Comments Based on EU Legal Regulations and the Case Law of the CJEU

The article presents EU legal regulations and decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) relating to one of the most important rights of children, which is their right to direct contact with their parents and other people close to them. Difficulties may be encountered in cross-border situations when the child moves to another Member State or to a third country. In the first case, EU regulations apply, in particular Art. 24 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the Council Regulation 2019/1111. They are complemented by the case law of the CJEU, which interprets the terms they contain, e.g. the right to personal contact with the child. Its decisions recognise the best interests of the child as an overriding principle. At the same time, the Court tries to adapt existing EU legal provisions to social realities related not only to increased mobility, but also to changes in the structure of the family itself (patchwork families, single-parent families, etc.).