Artigos

The State is currently the best equipped institution of civil society to organize social life and to protect humans. The family is the basic unit of society (celula mater) and is therefore worthy of the best political and legal treatment. The State has a duty towards civil society to regulate the family in order to ensure it special protection. This duty is necessarily performed both by adopting laws and by implementing public policies. In these activities, the State might eventually abuse its position, by using its power in a way contrary to the best interest of the family. So, to avoid negative effects of State intervention, it is convenient to define the competence of each of these two “circles” around the family (civil society and State), and establish the criteria to guide their harmonious action for the sake of the family. This paper will propose (1) the division of competencies between these circles, supported by the science of Constitutional Law, and (2) the observance of principles that regulate the relation between them. The combination of the binomial competence and principles of social order will eventually lead to the best result in joint action by all for the family.