THE ROLE OF THE COMMUNITY INTERVIEW IN DIVORCE PROCEEDINGS

In today’s post, we would like to highlight what a community interview is, what role a community interview plays in divorce proceedings, when a court can order one, whether it is mandatory to conduct one, and who is authorized to conduct one.

 

According to the regulation introduced by the legislator, a community interview is considered evidence in the case, despite its absence from the general rules governing evidence. Referring to the content of Article 434 of the Code of Civil Procedure, it should be pointed out that in matrimonial proceedings, the court may order a community interview to determine the conditions in which the parties’ children live and grow up. According to the indication of the Supreme Court of 13.12.2013, ref. SNO 35/13, it was indicated that “the guardianship court may order the guardian to collect also other data than those mentioned in the wording of the provision, if it is justified by the nature and character of the case“. Nevertheless, the main task of conducting a community interview is to prepare the evidentiary proceedings.

 

 

In accordance with the above-mentioned regulation, it should be emphasized that the legislator, by introducing the term “may” in the wording of the provision, left the courts full discretion to order an environmental interview in a given case. The effect of such a procedure is that the courts are not obliged to use an environmental interview in every pending proceeding.

Based on the current legislation, the person authorized to conduct an environmental interview may be any person designated by the court, however, practice proves that this activity is carried out primarily by qualified probation officers, and their findings in the case perform a very important function in the proceedings due to the fact that on the basis of the information collected by them the court makes the final decisions in the case. 

In conclusion, it should be pointed out that the environmental interview is primarily intended to facilitate the collection of evidence by the court, and is a source of important and valuable information, on the basis of which the case is very often resolved. Interestingly, according to the doctrine and the accepted position, it is indicated that this interview should be conducted whenever the spouses have minor children.

 

If you need more information we invite you to contact our lawyer Catherine:

Tel: +48 502 775 164
Email: k.lewicka@lzw-law.com