Havana, July 13, 2022. In the twenty-fifth, and latest, draft version of the Family Code, 47.93% of the content was modified, including the transitory and final provisions; and new elements were incorporated, representing 2.06%, reported the Minister of Justice Oscar Silvera Martinez.
In a videoconference of the Drafting Commission of the Family Code with the deputies of the National Assembly of People's Power (ANPP), the Minister highlighted the real impact the opinion of the people had in this consultation process, which he described as "transparent and effective".
He recalled that, on May 15, the National Electoral Council delivered the results of the popular consultation, and on that basis a work system was established which has been complied with in all its stages.
José Luis Toledo Santander, president of the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee, pointed out that if the project is approved in the next session of the ANPP, the decision to call the popular referendum, scheduled for September, will be made available to the Parliament.
Doctor of Sciences Yamila González Ferrer, vice-president of the National Union of Jurists of Cuba, said that the popular consultation was an important moment for the people, from the educational and pedagogical point of view, and a space for debate with those who presented the project, which generated different opinions.
She added that among the criteria issued, there were some that imply inconsistencies with the Constitution and international treaties to which Cuba is a signatory. These criteria included the elimination of the positive notion of upbringing without violence and parental responsibility and the references to the progressive autonomy of children and adolescents.
In addition, there were opinions proposing to limit the access of all persons to all institutions, with special emphasis on marriage, affective unions and assisted reproduction techniques; that is, the right of every person to found a family, to marry, to maternity and paternity.
Likewise, Dr. Patricia Arés Muzio explained to the representatives that the Code is detached from the current and traditional morality to defend an ethics for the family: "Many of the arguments it defends are based on psychology and are consistent with the most advanced development of the Social Sciences that are linked to the family."
María Armenia Yi Reina, representative for Mayarí, in Holguín, specified that this is a Code that assures the rights of the family; however, as a practicing Christian, she does not agree with some issues and was grateful for the space to express it.
Other issues that are reiterated, but are not part of the content of the Code, include concerns about certain immigration regulations and their impact within the family.
SURROGATE PREGNANCY, AN ALTRUISTIC ACT
In general, this new version improves the clarity of the definition of surrogate pregnancy, it sets it apart from the provisions on multiparentality and establishes a deadline for initiating the process.
In this regard, Arés Muzio stressed that this issue may raise certain resistance, as it may give way to other phenomena that are neither ethical nor supportive; however, the important thing is to create the conditions in the Cuban context to preserve dignity.
Dr. Roberto Álvarez Fumero, head of the Mother and Child Department of the Ministry of Public Health, underlined that this is a point on which there is still a lack of knowledge and that Cubans must be able to explain and understand one of the most humanistic and solidary aspects in the Code, since it protects the right to have offspring.
Based on the concerns of some deputies, he added that the health professionals who take into account the opinion for the approval of the solidary gestational carrier must also make a psychological evaluation of the person who participates in the process.
Doctor in Sciences Leonardo Pérez Gallardo, full professor of the Faculty of Law of the University of Havana, pointed out that disability cannot be a reason for discrimination in this matter, since every person has the right to form a family; "although in a specific case it may not be appropriate, it cannot be the rule to exclude them, because it would break with the spirit sought by the Code."
Toledo Santander called for reinforcing that the acts related to gestational solidarity be carried out with judicial authorization, and to strengthen the responsibility of those specialists who assume the risk of carrying out this practice without such permission, which could lead to their permanent disqualification.
MODIFICATIONS IN TRANSITORY AND FINAL PROVISIONS
Ana María Álvarez-Tabío, Ph.D., pointed out that, in the case of the transitory and final provisions, it is important to take into account the incoming changes. Among the modifications, it is important to highlight the fact that they allow the Supreme People's Court to issue the necessary indications to review the files for the declaration of incapacity and appointment of guardians to persons of legal age.
With this, he pointed out, the Code leaves the doors open so that all subsequent regulations on the subject of disability will be in harmony.
In this new version, final provisions are incorporated to repeal all references to parental authority that appear in the Cuban legal system, and the Ministry of Justice is granted a term to dictate the legal norms on the Family Defense Office, in coordination with the corresponding agencies.
Likewise, among the relevant aspects, he highlighted the variant adopted to state the need for salary, labor or social assistance protection for family caregivers who are of active working age and who have left their profession or trade to devote themselves to it.
RELEVANT ASPECTS OF THE NEW VERSION
Expressly recognizes caregiving as a right.
Extends the protection of children and adolescents in exceptional disaster situations.
Incorporates the option of recording in a notarial deed the delegation of part of the exercise of parental responsibility and guardianship and care in favor of third parties.
It reinforces the urgent guardianship in the face of discrimination and violence, and extends the possibility of denunciation to any person who knows of such facts.
It establishes greater rigor in the articles of recognition of filiation by natural or consanguineous procreation, and the presumptions that accompany it.
It improves the understanding of the sources of filiation and the types that it manages, as well as the assumptions in which the multiparentality derives.
It outlines the causes of the cessation of the legal obligation to provide maintenance and its exceptions for other situations, for example, if it is a minor who is fulfilling his military service.
Source: Granma