A Comparative Research On State Interventions System Towards Child Maltreatment

Child maltreatment is the general definition for various behaviors causing children's interests damage. There are mainly four types:physical abuse, neglect, sexual abuse and emotional abuse of a child or children who are below the age of eighteen years. The results of children's physical and mental injuries not only damage children's private interests but also national public interests. Therefore states have the responsibilities to protect the child.From the perspective of human rights protection, States have the obligations to respect, protect and fulfill the basic human rights. The right of survival and the right of development are the fundamental rights of UN CRC. The right of free from all forms of violence derives from them. The primary obligation of member states in UN CRC is to prevent and to intervene the child maltreatment. From the perspective of interests'protection, children are the labour force in the future. The condition of children's development will decide the level of state human resource. State interventions towards child maltreatment protect not only the private interests of the child but also the public interests of the state.The objective of state intervening system is to protect and fulfill the interests of the child. Those interests commonly protected are children's body development, cognitive development and social development needs. And all the content of legal system is on how to satisfy the needs of the child. Consequently the interests of the child are the core of state intervening legal system.The main issue of my research is about how to realize the best interests of the child through state interventions.This research mainly adopts the comparison research methodology, through deeply comparative analysis of the application conditions and mutual relationships of specific measures in different countries, to reveal the common and pivotal constructive factors in the child maltreatment intervention systems of various countries, providing related evidences for the construction of Chinese child abuse intervention system.The definition of child maltreatment is the starting point of state interventions system. In terms of the definition of child maltreatment, it contains the state's intervening criteria as well as includes the interests of the child which has been protected by laws. Those interests of the child are safeguarded by laws through the responsibilities of parents'care and obligtions of state's surveillance and substitution.Because parents are the main subjects of child maltreatment, most contents of state interventions system are composed of intervening measures towards parents. State intervening legal system mainly includes two kinds of measures:children protection measures and parents help and suveilliance measures. For survival of the child is the base of all children's interests, so ensuring the life security of the child is the lowest target of state intervening legal system. Meanwhile helping children returning home is the highest target of state intervening legal system because home is the best place for children's development and parents are the most suitable person to care children. In result nearly all the state intervening legal systems give priority to take measures helping and supervising parents in order to prevent the separation of the child and parents.The first chapter reviews the track of national restriction of parents'rights. This chapter compares the conditions, principles and modes of the national restriction methods between different countries. The evolution process of legislation of parent-child relationship showed the necessity principle and the proportionality principle of a nation intervening into parent-child relationship. While what advocated the strength of national protections to children to increasingly enhance was the change of social value of children. Therefore, protecting children from all kinds of damages has also been one of national responsibilities in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.The second chapter concentrates on the interests of the child.The key factors of definitions of child maltreatment are the damages of the interests of child and its degree. Most countries have generally adopted the "endangerment" standard to judge the condition of damages of interest of child. This method not only included the tangible damages a child had but also the risk a child might get hurt that made him or her stay in a highly dangerous state. Once the degree of damage of a child reaches the national intervention standard, the following report, investigation and evaluation procedural will all begin.The third chapter focues on the specific intervention measures in different countries through comparisons on the objects, functions, application conditions and concrete methods of the intervention measures. According to varied objects, intervention measures can be divided into measures to parents and measures to children. The state intervention measures towards parents include not only help and support to parents but the supervision to parents'behaviors. The purpose of intervention is trying our best to assist and supervise parents to satisfy the children's needs, to help children return to their families. However, the protection measures towards children can be divided into emergency protection measure, resettlement protection measure outside the family, protection measure of supervision replaced by nation, according to the criticality a child confront with.The forth chapter studies the subject of national intervention measures. According different roles and functions of children protection agency and family court or child court, this chapter pointes out the necessity of their existences.The fifth chapter pointes out the deficiencies and shortages of Chinese legal system and puts forward the concrete suggestions about the constructions of Chinese child abuse intervention legal system. On the one hand we should establish a special child protection agency in government administration to provide adequate protections to children and to strenghten the supervision and help to parents; on the other hand we should improve the legislation through civil code and law against domestic violence immediately. It is better to make a special law against child maltreatment in the future.