Termination of parental authority is the heaviest child protection measure: the court removes a parent’s authority over their child. Authority then passes to a guardian, usually a certified institution or a foster parent.
Legal basis
Article 1:266 of the Dutch Civil Code provides two grounds. The first is that a child is growing up in circumstances that seriously threaten its development and the parent is unable to bear responsibility for its care and upbringing within a period acceptable for the child’s person and development. The second is abuse of authority. The application is made by the Child Care and Protection Board or by the public prosecutor; Article 1:267(2) also allows a foster parent who has cared for the child for at least a year to apply where the Board does not act. The measure is permanent, but Article 1:277 allows authority to be restored where the parent can durably resume responsibility and that is in the child’s interests.
How it works in practice
The measure almost always follows a long-running supervision order with out-of-home placement. The concept of an acceptable period is decisive: the younger the child, the shorter that period is considered to be. The parent is assigned a lawyer. Defence generally focuses on whether sufficient support was offered and whether the decision on the child’s long-term perspective was taken too quickly.
Where it goes wrong
Parents refuse to cooperate with assessments believing the measure then cannot be imposed; the opposite is true. A second error is disputing facts from old reports only at the hearing, after they have been repeated for years. Third, contact is left unregulated after the measure, although a separate decision can be sought.
Related terms
The measure follows the family supervision order, leads to guardianship and connects to parental authority.
Is an application pending? Our family law specialists conduct the defence.
