Una perspectiva de la patria potestad en América Latina: Especial referencia al caso ecuatoriano

Abstract

Parental authority implies a set of legal and moral obligations that parents have towards their children and, therefore, a right of protection of the unemancipated child and adolescent, whose only limit is his or her best interest. Parental authority in Colombia is developed in provisions such as the Civil Code and the Code of Childhood and Adolescence; in Venezuela this legal figure is regulated in the Organic Law for the Protection of Children and Adolescents. In the Ecuadorian case, from the legislative point of view, it is precepted in the Civil Code and in the Code of Childhood and Adolescence. The purpose of this work is to study the constitutional and legal provisions that regulate parental authority in Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador, with express mention of the latter. The research was of a descriptive documentary type, through the application of the analytical method. It is concluded that, in the framework of the three countries referred to, parental authority plays a transcendental role in family cohesion and coexistence, but above all in guaranteeing the best interests of the child, and it is a set of responsibilities recognized exclusively to mothers and fathers.