„Minors in serious situations" – hearings of children by the guardianship authority

Abstract

In exercising its guardianship and child protection powers as an administrative authority, the guardianship authority makes decisions in a number of types of proceedings where it has a legal obligation to obtain a statement from the minor concerned and to hear the minor in person during the evidentiary phase. The legal framework is designed to protect children and ensure that their rights are exercised, but the developmental and psychological characteristics typical of childhood, as well as the emotional intensity of situations requiring guardianship intervention, would seem to argue in favor of hearing minors and exemption from guardianship proceedings. The question arises as to what further knowledge the general legal practice of hearing minors can draw on in dealing with individual – and in each case unique – cases.
Keywords: hearing, minor, guardianship authority, framework, psychoanalysis