- 6established in the American Convention and in the said Protocol of San Salvador, it is also embodied in a significant number of international legal instruments,6 and also in Article 32 of the Constitution of El Salvador. 141. In this regard, the Court considers that everyone has the right to live in contact with or maintain direct contact or personal relationships with their family, given that the family, as a natural and fundamental element of society, is, in principle, “called on to satisfy [the] material, affective and psychological needs”7 of every individual. Likewise, the Court underscored the importance of this right with regard to all the members of the family, such as parents and siblings, when it affirmed that the State was obliged to promote the development and strengthening of the family nucleus as comprehensively as possible.8 142. Accordingly, the Court agrees with the European Court that the mutual enjoyment of the coexistence of parents and children is a basic factor in the life of the family,9 and that, even when parents are separated from their children, family coexistence should be guaranteed.10 The Court understands, in line with the views of the European Court, that measures which prevent the enjoyment of family relations interfere in the rights of the family, embodied in Article 17 of the American Convention.11 One of the most serious interferences is that which results in the separation of a family.12 143. The right of every individual to receive protection against arbitrary or illegal interference in their family forms an implicit part of the right to the protection of the 6 This is established in: Article 16(3) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; Article 10(1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; Article 23 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the preamble and Article 8 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child; Article 18 of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child; Article 8 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms amended according to the provisions of Protocol 11 and completed by Protocols 1 and 6; Articles 4 and 22 on the Declaration on Social Progress and Development; point 16 of the Proclamation of Teheran; Articles 1 and 2 of the Declaration on Social and Legal Principles relating to the Protection and Welfare of Children, with particular reference to foster placement and adoption nationally and internationally; and Article 6 of the Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. 7 Cf. Juridical Condition and Human Rights of the Child. Advisory Opinion OC-17/02 of August 28, 2002. Series A No. 17, para. 71. 8 Cf. Juridical Condition and Human Rights of the Child. Advisory Opinion OC-17/02 of August 28, 2002. Series A No. 17, para. 66. 9 Cf. Juridical Condition and Human Rights of the Child. Advisory Opinion OC-17/02 of August 28, 2002. Series A No. 17, para. 72. Likewise Cf. Haase v. Germany, no. 11057/02, § 82, ECHR 2004-III; Kosmopoulou v. Greece, no. 60457/00, §47, 5 February 2004; and Hoppe v. Germany, no. 28422/95, §44, 5 December 2002. 10 Cf. Juridical Condition and Human Rights of the Child. Advisory Opinion OC-17/02 of August 28, 2002. Series A No. 17, para. 72. Likewise Eur. Court H.R., Case of Berrehab v. the Netherlands, Judgment of 21 June 1988, Series A no. 138, para. 21. 11 Cf. Juridical Condition and Human Rights of the Child. Advisory Opinion OC-17/02 of August 28, 2002. Series A No. 17, para. 72. Likewise Cf. Haase v. Germany, no. 11057/02, § 82, ECHR 2004-III; Kosmopoulou v. Greece, no. 60457/00, § 47, 5 February 2004; and Venema v. The Netherlands, no. 35731/97, §71, ECHR 2002-X. 12 Cf. Juridical Condition and Human Rights of the Child. Advisory Opinion OC-17/02 of August 28, 2002. Series A No. 17, para. 72.