La privación de patria potestad por adicciones: valoración de la idoneidad parental e interés superior del niño

Abstract

This study examines the deprivation of parental authority on the grounds of addiction as a legal issue within the fields of Family Law and the Rights of Children and Adolescents in Ecuador. A doctrinal legal analysis was conducted to examine how assessments of parental fitness and expert evidence influence the balancing of the child's best interests in proceedings for the deprivation of parental authority on the grounds of addiction in Ecuador, with a view to establishing legal guidelines that safeguard the rights of minors. The findings indicate that parental fitness must be assessed on the basis of parents' ability to adequately fulfill their duties and responsibilities for the care and protection of their children. Each case must be decided on an individual basis, as deprivation of parental authority may be ordered when addiction-related conduct demonstrates a serious and substantiated violation of minor's rights. The study concludes that parental fitness in the context of addiction must be assessed comprehensively, on an individual basis, and through an interdisciplinary approach, in order to determine the parent's social and clinical-psychological circumstances and the impact of addiction-related effects on the exercise of parental responsibilities, thereby avoiding an overly narrow legal assessment.