ADOPTION OF A CHILD WITHOUT CONSENT OF ITS PARENT WITH A INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY – CASE OF A.K. AND L. v. CROATIA

This paper discusses the matter of parents prior right to provide his/her child with care in situations in which a child’s parent is a person with intellectual disabilities. The author analyzes the case of A.K. and L. v. Croatia in which European Court of Human Rights concluded that it come to violation of the right to family life of A.K, a mother with an intellectual disability and her son L., who was adopted without the mother’s consent. The paper presents a critical review of Croatian family law in a matter of a parent’s consent for an adoption when the parent is a person with intellectual disabilities. By connecting contemporary standpoints of the European Court of Human Rights and the latest scientific knowledge about the ability of persons with intellectual disabilities to take care of their child, the author discusses a possible conflict between the principle of child’s best interest and the priority right of a parent to take care of his/her child. Also, the author warns about the danger of a parent with intellectual disabilities being deprived of his/her parental rights and completely excluded from the process of adoption even in situations when the parent could, with adequate professional help and support, maintain a family relationship with the child. From that perspective the author also discusses the latest reforms of the family law concerning protection of parental rights of persons deprived of their capacity for work.