Nuno Ferreira

The debate around private law harmonisation in the EU has gradually moved from a narrow scope of market-related issues to the creation of a European civil code. The relationship between this process and children’s rights is, however, rarely acknowledged. The political, social and legal legitimacy of these harmonisation eff orts have come under strict scrutiny, but hardly ever from the point of view of children. This article explores the impact of the process of legal harmonisation on children’s rights, and uses the issue of children’s tort liability as a case-study. The legal solutions in this field are analysed and compared, and the academic proposals for harmonisation are assessed. This choice of subject and approach allows us to assess the advisability of further harmonisation, illustrate the importance of socio-economic factors in this process, and highlight the relevance of children’s rights and fundamental rights to this debate.

The concepts of 'liability age' and 'capacity responsibility' have been widely dissected by researchers in various fields. However, their application to both criminal and tort liability of children remains inconsistent. Furthermore, rarely has an interdisciplinary approach adequately dealt with these concepts and their impact on legal norms. This text investigates the notion of criminal and tort liability age in connection with the notion of capacity responsibility, in relation to children, and further questions the adequacy of the relevant legal norms. This endeavour to improve the applicable legal norms is supported by an analysis of the pertinent findings in the field of psychology, particularly in respect of the moral development of children. Informed by an excursion through the ideas of Piaget, Kohlberg, and Gilligan, among others, regarding the moral development of children, the text also serves to assess the impact of concepts of moral responsibility and maturity, in relation to the development of the legal norms, which determine the age of liability of children. The text concludes with a proposal for a criminal and tort liability age framework, based upon indicative/presumptive age milestones, and an integrated approach to all relevant circumstances in casu.

Since the beginning of the 2008 economic crisis, reports of child work across Europe have increased. This article looks into the European Union legal framework that applies to children who work, and offers a socio-legal analysis of child work regulation more generally. In so doing, it considers the role of a range of factors relevant to the regulation of child work, including children’s rights, cultural relativism, social constructions of childhood, empirical evidence of the benefits and harm of child work, and the different contexts in which children are found working. The article advances a justification for a restrictive approach in relation to child work in the European context, on the basis of legal, social, economic and cultural factors.

Objective: Symptom improvement is often examined as an indicator of a good outcome of accessing mental health services. However, there is little evidence of whether symptom improvement is associated with other indicators of a good outcome, such as a mutual agreement to end treatment. The aim of this study was to examine whether young people accessing mental health services who meaningfully improved were more likely to mutually agree to end treatment.Methods: Multilevel multinomial regression analysis controlling for age, gender, ethnicity, and referral source was conducted on N = 8,995 episodes of care [Female = 5,469, 61%; meanAge = 13.66 years] using anonymised administrative data from young people's mental health services.Results: Compared to young people with no change in mental health difficulties, those showing positive meaningful changes in mental health difficulties were less likely to have case closure due to non-mutual agreement. Similarly, they were less likely to transfer or end treatment for other reasons than by case closure due to mutual agreement.Conclusion: The findings suggest that young people accessing mental health services whose symptoms meaningfully improve are more likely to mutually agree to end treatment, adding to the evidence that symptom improvement may be appropriate to examine as an indicator of a good outcome of accessing mental health services.

The expulsion of large numbers of Roma individuals from France since 2009 has raised considerable debate in the context of EU law and policy. This was, however, accompanied by other discriminatory practices and forms of hostility, exclusion and violence against the Roma, such as finger-printing in Italy and educational segregation in the Czech Republic. A comprehensive approach and strong action by the EU against these practices was defended, which led to the Commission communication on the EU Framework on National Roma Integration Strategies, a non-binding Parliament resolution and the Council recommendation on effective Roma integration measures in the member states. Such comprehensive approach may be in many respects appropriate, but the danger is to neglect the true relevance of concrete, enforceable and ‘hard law’ measures. This chapter thus explores the legal adequacy of EU action with regard to the Roma minority, particularly from free movement and EU citizenship perspectives. The scope for derogations from free movement and from the rights associated with EU citizenship are the centre pieces of this analysis, which critically analyses specific EU Member States’ restrictions on the free movement of the Roma minority and the EU response in this and other relevant aspects.

Euthanasia is a practice that has taken place since immemorial times. And since immemorial times it has been controversial and a source of harsh debates. Throughout the last decades, many changes have been introduced in this field and many practices, until then only taking place without public knowledge, were progressively revealed and regulated. This paper aims, firstly, at clarifying the terminology and concepts usually used in the euthanasia debate and presenting, in a lucid way, the arguments that civic movements and authors resort to when defending or criticising the liberalisation of euthanasia. Secondly, it describes the legal and social situation regarding euthanasia in several countries, where cases and legislation have demanded greater awareness from society. Thirdly, it attempts to compare the different national situations previously analysed. Finally, it discusses ways of improving the present situation and finding better solutions for the regulation of euthanasia. In such a debate, where moral, ethic and religious arguments and beliefs are called upon, it is crucial not to lose sight of the foundations of our culture and society. Therefore, this paper, although concentrating on the legal aspects of this debate, tries to take into account of some non-legal aspects which are also relevant and without which it is not possible to thoroughly discuss this issue. Ultimately, this paper does not attempt to portray a neutral position, sinc legal scholars should not necessarily limit themselves to technical and cold analysis of legal provisions.

Portugal’s migration history has been extensively explored in academic literature, including in legal scholarship. Yet, very little attention has so far been directed towards Portuguese refugee law. This may be due to the relatively low number of asylum seekers that Portugal receives, but that does not justify neglecting the study of the Portuguese socio-legal framework applicable to asylum seekers and refugees. This article addresses this gap by analyzing the framework in a European context, enhancing the analysis with a case study of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, and intersex asylum seekers. The analysis explores the evolution of the current legal framework, the procedures and remedies available to asylum seekers, the substantive standards applied in decision making, and the broader socio-legal resources offered to asylum seekers. Several shortcomings and possible avenues of improvement are also identified.

This book chapter analyses the different treatment of married and unmarried couples in the EU from the perspective of the application of fundamental rights to private law matters - the 'horizontal effect of fundamental rights' debate. This theme is usually discussed exclusively within the context of public or private law, so this work constitutes an original contribution to the debate on the subject-matter. The chapter compares relevant statutory instruments and case-law from nine jurisdictions, and concludes with policy recommendations.

The EU has throughout its history benefited from variable levels of popular support and revealed different levels of capacity to deal with crises. The current circumstances, on account of financial pressures, social instability and present geographical and policy scope of the EU, require serious introspection and ‘soul searching’. What can be done if the EU is not to perish and, hopefully, become more part of the solution than of the problem? May becoming more humane be the answer? ‘Humane’ may be defined in different ways, including compassionate, sympathetic and humanitarian. Non-Western cultures seem to have made a much more sophisticated use of this notion in broader contexts up to the present day. Chinese culture, through the Confucian notion of ‘jen’, places enormous value on humaneness as a way of achieving balance, empathy and the moral standard. In the African context, the notion of ‘ubuntu’ has served as the gateway through which humaneness infiltrates all aspects of society, including law and policy, namely by focussing on participation, co-responsibility, interdependence, respect and equality. This introduction presents an analytical framework through which the degree of humaneness of the different fields of EU law and policy can be assessed.

European Union law has curtailed the traditional discretion Member States have in ordering non-nationals to leave their territory. Although Directive 2004/28 has enhanced the system of protection afforded to offending European Union citizens, it still contains a number of cracks that lead to policy incoherence and gaps in rights protection. This is evident in the first rulings on Article 28 of Directive 2004/38 concerning the deportation of offending EU citizens. These issues also threaten to transform European Union citizenship from a fundamental status into a thin overlay that, under pressure from national executive power, loses its effect and significance. To be sure, EU citizenship has demonstrated that community belonging does not have to be based on organic-national qualities, cultural commonalities, or individuals' conformity to national values, but the continued deportation of long-term resident Union citizens makes nationality the ultimate determinant of belonging. The subsequent discussion suggests possible remedies and makes recommendations for institutional reform.

The book explores, from a comparative and inter-disciplinary perspective, the relationship between fundamental rights and private law in Europe, a debate usually referred to as Drittwirkung or horizontal effect of fundamental rights. It discusses the different models of horizontal effect and the impact that fundamental rights may have in shaping tort law, especially the position of child tortfeasors. The book concentrates on several European jurisdictions, namely France, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Sweden, Finland, and England and Wales. At a crossroad between human rights and European private law, this study draws insights from several legal fields, sociology, psychology, and feminist studies. It also considers policy implications and advances proposals which would ensure the optimisation of the effect, and maximisation of the effectiveness, of fundamental rights in tort law, and more generally in private law. This book departs from traditional legal doctrines and offers a more pragmatic, comprehensive and just legal analysis of the role of fundamental rights in private law. It will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students, academics, practitioners, policy-makers and activists with an interest in human rights, tort law, comparative law, children's rights and European private law.