A judge presiding over the Family Court has denied a request by a father who lives abroad to speak to his son via Skype because he cannot travel to Malta due to the pandemic.
The irate father slammed the decision, and in an application protested that this was tantamount to “court-enabled parental alienation”, requesting a reference to the Constitutional Court over an alleged breach of his right to family life.
The man, who is not being mentioned to protect the identity of his family, had filed an application at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic explaining that he is allowed to access his son for nine hours a week. His daughter lives with him abroad but he has not seen his son, physically or virtually, for over four months so far.
The pandemic, he said, had not only stopped his contact with his son but had also halted contact between the two siblings so he asked the court to alter the arrangement and allow access to take place virtually via Skype, given the circumstances.
The man explained to the court that he had purchased a laptop, a tablet and even an Apple Watch so that he could speak to his son virtually. Some virtual meetings had been held but these stopped suddenly and his son stopped answering his calls and messages.
He therefore asked the court to regulate such virtual contact, as an extension of the court-ordered physical contact. He suggested splitting up the nine hours with daily one-hour virtual contact between Monday and Friday and two hours a day on Saturdays and Sundays.
This is court-enabled parental alienation
In her reply, seen by Times of Malta, the man’s estranged wife said she had spoken to her 12-year-old son about his father’s request and that he did not wish to be tied down with a regimental schedule of contact with his dad, preferring instead if they could talk for one hour on Saturdays rather than daily.
She suggested appointing a children’s advocate to listen to the child and report on his wishes.
She said that despite her husband’s claims about parental alienation, the couple’s other children, who are no longer minors, did not want any contact with their father because he, she claims, left his family in Malta to pursue his career abroad.
Presided over by Mr Justice Anthony Vella, the family court turned down the man’s request, despite a letter from his employer that he could not afford to travel to Malta regularly due to quarantine and other travel restrictions. The court gave no reason for its decision.
The man subsequently filed another application requesting the revocation of the decree in which it denied his request for virtual visitation rights. Among other reasons, the man said the court’s decision was not accompanied with any motivation or explanation.
“This is court-enabled parental alienation,” the man claimed. He said that while he was not even granted the right to see his son virtually, his estranged wife’s partner had constant access to him, creating “false fatherhood”.
He quoted other judgments where the Family Court had granted virtual visitation rights to those fathers who lived abroad.
The man said that with such a decision, the court is breaching his fundamental right to family life so he requested that the matter be referred to the Constitutional Court for the alleged breach to be discussed in further detail.