Cinzia Calabrese, national president of the Italian Association of Lawyers for the Family and Minors, explains the mechanisms that lead to agreements between lawyers in a separation case: “But if there are violent situations, all this cannot be valid”
The introduction. Daniele was 7 years old. His father, Davide Paitoni, who was under house arrest for the attempted murder of a work colleague, killed him. The man was separating from his wife and could meet the child even if arrested, according to agreements established with her through the lawyers and not revoked by the judge who granted him house arrest.
Cinzia Calabrese is the national president of Aiaf, the Italian association of lawyers for the family and for minors. Are agreements of this type common between lawyers in a separation case?
«Yes, every effort is made to protect the child’s right to dual parenthood, and agreements of this kind are often found. The judge in these cases assesses whether this agreement is in the interest of the child. Sometimes it happens that the parties find an agreement on the children and he instead takes care of the economic part “.
So are the lawyers who value the interest of the child?
«In consensual separations, the assessment of the minor’s interest is made first by the lawyers and then submitted to the judge. Assisted negotiation agreements (i.e. agreements on all aspects: children, money, houses) are instead made by lawyers with the parties. Once done, the agreement is sent to the prosecutor’s office and the prosecutor assesses whether it is adequate, congruous, if it meets the needs of the children. If he thinks so, he authorizes it and everything is then sent in common. In this case there is no passage from the court, only from the prosecutor’s office ».
But what if there is a violent situation in the background?
«If there are violent situations all this obviously does not apply. If there are such situations, before taking any step I want there to be a check on the perpetrator ».
However, in the case you are talking about, a perpetrator is assumed. A man who has used violence in his family or towards his partner. But what if, as in the case of this child, the violence concerns extra-family situations?
“In my opinion, everyone should have more attention when dealing with a violent person, regardless of whether the episodes of violence involved the family or not. And instead sometimes we think almost in watertight compartments. This issue of violence must concern everyone. We are all focused on domestic violence, and that’s great. But if we are faced with a person who is unable to control his anger, in my opinion we have a problem, which must necessarily also concern his relationship with his children “.
Yet he often stands out: a bad companion but a wonderful father …
“I believe that if you fight for a parking lot today, if you get angry with your colleague tomorrow, it may well be that one day you hit your son because he got a bad grade at school. So I repeat: we need more attention ».
Perhaps it also depends on the old problem that criminal and civil judges communicate little …
«The exchange of information between the criminal and the civilian is provided for by the red code. I don’t know how it is in the rest of Italy, but in Milan it happens, there is a protocol. The criminal judge always informs the judge of the separation of the proceedings he has pending. And the protocol was made on the basis of the rule of law that provides for just this ».
Mothers often complain of not being listened to when they fear that fathers will harm their children. They are afraid even to protest for fear of losing them.
“I see the concern of mothers but we should also have more confidence because, in the end, if a measure is adopted that takes the child away, it is because that child is a situation of lack of protection”.
The Bibbiano case has become a kind of collective nightmare on this issue.
“It is no coincidence that the reform of the family process was imposed after Bibbiano. And for example: on social services, the reform provides that they comply with the surveys, without adding elements of evaluation. They must keep the facts they ascertain distinct from their considerations. ”
When will this reform be effective?
“The rules of immediate application will come into force in June. Among these is the modification of the part that allows certain types of social services interventions, in fact. For the reform as a whole, however, let’s say that for now there is a system and there are protocols. For example that of the court of Terni, where Dr. Velletti is president of the section: they have already provided, for example, that in cases of domestic violence the hearing is at deferred times for the two parties, to prevent them from meeting. In any case: for the reform to be fully operational we must wait for the implementing decrees ».
January 3, 2022 (change January 3, 2022 | 13:04)
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