THE EUROPEAN COURT AGAINST ITALY IN SUPPORT OF BIGENITORIALITY

Once again the ECHR, the European Court of Human Rights, condemned Italy for failing to respect the fundamental rights of separated parents. The last pronunciation is from the 2018, but was published only in recent days (previous are of 2010, 2013 and 2016).

The European Court of Human Rights once again urges Italy to recognize the right to big parents. Mother and father, with equal dignity and identical opportunities, must be able to exercise their right / duty to parental responsibility. For the Court it is a good practice to be implemented concretely and rapidly, because, the Judgment explains, "the passing of time can have irreparable consequences on the relations between the child and the parent who does not live with him. According to the Strasbourg judges, the legal system and above all the administrative system, in particular linked to social services, appear to be completely inadequate to guarantee equitable and rapid rights for parents separated in cases of conflict.

The European Court carried out an accurate analysis of the case in question.

It was a complex case with a strong painful component, as always when parents with their children are involved, in which slowness and mistakes are once again reported. At the center of the story is a father of 49 years and a son born in the 2006 from the relationship between man and the companion of the time. The relationship soon ends and the father immediately experiences ever greater difficulties in meeting his son. In 2009 the first appeal to the Juvenile Court of Rome with the request to regularly see the child. Between the 2010 and the 2015 three decrees are issued which recognize the validity of the father's requests.

The problem, however, as is often the case in custody disputes, is how to properly execute these decisions with conflicting parents. In the meantime, the lawsuit is proceeding with several complaints, appeals and technical advice that result in the only result being to further distance the child from the father who would only like to see him regularly.

Hence the decision in the 2017 to appeal to the Court of Strasbourg and finally the favorable sentence that opens the way to a new chapter in a troubled but far from exceptional affair. There are still too many separated parents who are unable to see their children due to the opposition of the other parent and despite sentences of shared foster care.

ARMANDO CECATIELLO