Lex Tintin - Socialnämndens och vårdnadshavares handlingsutrymme vid umgängestvister

Sammanfattning: Abstract This study is discussing how to reduce the risk of abuse during visitation with a parent that the child does not live with full-time. In January of this year, 2023, an 8-year-old boy was murdered by his father during a 2-hour court ordered visitation. The parents had been engaged in a custody battle for most of the boy’s life and the mother had gained sole custody last year. The study explores the remits of the social services, the custodians, and the courts within the area of visitation rights for the child. Where do the responsibilities lie and who can prevent anything like what happened to the boy called Tintin from happening again? The essay methodically works through current legislation, policies and professional guidelines in the form of a text analysis and then explores relevant research and court rulings with a critical eye to find gaps in the delivery of the legislation and guidelines. Special attention is given to the rights of the child and the rights and responsibilities of the parents or custodians. The study finds that the legislation has not kept up with current family dynamics and that the courts determine the rights of the child from a general perspective rather than an individual one as is required by the legislation.A lot of the responsibility for risk-assessment before a visitation with the other parent lies on the parents themselves. It is normally the parents that bring a custody case about visitation rights to the social services or to the courts. It is rare that the social services bring a case to court even though the legislation is there in order to protect the child in case the parent does not. Research quoted in the study reveals that domestic violence is present in a majority of court cases relating to custodial matters but that the courts may suffer from a lack in knowledge or from a failure to look at the impact of said violence on the individual child. The study finds that the conflict between the two parents often take center stage in court hearings and that the child’s needs come second or are drowned out in the general conflict.The conclusion of the study is that what happened to Tintin could happen again today but pending legislation in both the area of family law and legislation around domestic violence and rights of the child that may change the legal landscape within a near future.