An individual recently reported a partner for failing to pay maintenance. All the police had to do was ask for transaction statements to realise that the report was false.
Instead, the case was taken to court.
“There is no one system adopted by all officers. Some will investigate a report in detail, others are paper-pushers. Some victims – or even perpetrators - actually wait for specific officers to start their shift before filing a report,” says Dr Ivan Sammut, consultant to the NGO Happy Parenting for Happier Children.
Parental alienation should be recognised by Maltese law, possibly as a form of domestic violence and abuse of minors, the NGO is urging.
This could be done either by introducing a new law that would protect children from parental alienation or including this phenomenon in existing legislation. Sammut told Times of Malta that once parental alienation is recognised by Maltese legislation, children could, under civil law, be reunited with the alienated parent, while under criminal law, the perpetrator could be found guilty of domestic violence or abuse of minors.
The reform would also bring about a change in the legal provisions for access to children and maintenance.
Sammut explained that as things stand, it could take years for parents to see through cases as from the day they file a report to say they are being kept from seeing their children. If found guilty, the other parent could receive either a warning, a fine or be detained.
“In any case, neither the children nor the alienated parent are compensated for the lost quality time they could have spent together. What makes matters worse, if the alienating parent is fined, this fine could be paid through the estranged couples’ communal assets, meaning both parents share the expense.
Neither the children nor the alienated parent are compensated for the lost quality time they could have spent together
“In the case of imprisonment, the children would have lost both parents.” Sammut added that there was a potential gender imbalance when it comes to the provision of maintenance and access.
While the majority of fathers are ordered to pay maintenance, most mothers are tasked with granting the father access to their children. At the same time, fathers found guilty of failing to pay maintenance are often detained, while mothers found guilty of blocking the father’s access to the children rarely end up jailed.
In one such case in 2012, a mother jailed for not granting her ex-husband access to their child was even granted a presidential pardon.
“There is a need for a reform of the system. Detention, although necessary in some cases, should not be automatic.
“In a similar way, maintenance and access should not be based on gender but should be joint. Some argue that having two homes could lead to lack of stability for the children.
“However, it has been proven that spending time with both parents on a 50/50 ratio, is much healthier for children of separated parents. Joint custody should be the point of departure.”
While no maintenance would be required in a joint custody setting, as each parent is equally financially responsible for the child, parents can of course request for this to be changed and it would be up to the court to decide whether this is necessary.
The NGO’s proposals include the setting up of a board made up of two psychologists and an advocate who study the case and come up with recommendations about co-parenting, before passing on to litigation in court.
“The organisation is also calling for more training for the judiciary and legal profession. In the absence of such training, lawyers seemed to learn from the errors of their predecessors,” Sammut said.
“Police officers who deal with reports of domestic violence should also be trained to notice and flag parental alienation. Meanwhile, they should also be encouraged to investigate reports, rather than leave it up to the courts to do so,” he added.