Law without Justice
As in most countries in the
West, Austrian family law is meant to serve the best interests of the
children. But what if Justitia errs? [....]
Family law has a long tradition in Europe, either as Catholic
countries or as Protestant.” However, that should not have mattered
here, as both parents are observant Jews, a tradition in which mothers
are held in very high regard. “Respect for motherhood is deeply rooted
in Jewish culture,” confirmed the Viennese rabbi. Jewish identity itself
is, in fact, matrilineal, i.e., being passed on through the mother. A
child born of a Jewish father and Christian mother, for example, is not
considered a Jew.
However, for Judge emeritus Lilian Hofmeister, Alexander’s case comes
as no surprise in the Austrian legal system: “This is particularly true
in custody wars over sons,” Judge Hofmeister said. “There seems to be a
new ‘rule of thumb’, which states: ‘Sons belong to their fathers’,” she
said. “In the course of my pro bono work, I have come across cases that
I wouldn’t have thought possible from my understanding of the law,” she
added. While she was not familiar with all the details of this case,
she said that especially with parents raising their children
religiously, courts often prefer the fathers to the mothers. “I often
get the impression that fathers use women as baby machines,” Dr.
Hofmeister said, “As soon as the baby is born, they want to get rid of
the mother(…), with foreigners, it is even easier.” As a social critic
and feminist, she sees the situation in Austria as “a ‘war against women
as mothers’, something not yet being examined by the courts.”
As the twins were born in Austria, Alexander’s case is governed by
Austrian law: After a 1.5-year custody battle, Judge Susanne Göttlicher
granted full and immediate custody to her husband, basing her decision
on one psychological report. In the report, a court-appointed
psychologist deemed her unfit to parenting: “The mother has limited
parenting abilities (…) she inadequately interacts and bonds with her
children.” For Alexander, the report has been fabricated – a procedure
that has just caused a scandal in Salzburg, where a courtappointed
psychologist is believed to have written 13 reports for courts
predominantly in custody wars, using pre-fabricated textual elements and
having manipulated the psychological tests.
To prove the report wrong, Alexander had herself re-assessed
privately, leading to a second court-commissioned evaluation, by Dr.
Werner Leixnering. Both reports contradicted the initial report and
stated that she was perfectly sane and a good mother. To date, Judge
Göttlicher has declined to accept these reports in evidence. Claiming
bias, Alexander filed for a replacement of the judge in January, which
has put the case on hold for nearly six months. [...]
However, just before press time, a decision was handed denying
Alexander’s request for a change of venue, stating that “a transfer of
jurisdiction to the Bezirksgericht Josefstadt is not in the interest of
the children at the moment.” But with every day that passes, the legal
argument grows that the children are now “used to their father”, as the
psychiatrist Wörgötter knows from her 15-year experience as a
court-appointed expert. [...]
According to halocho the boys go to the father from age 6. What am I missing? So a sight that lauds itself with the name "Daas Torah" purporting to follow haocho thinks the mother should get the boys which at face value seems in defiance of halocho.
ReplyDeleteStan do you always have to act like an idiot? If you took the time to get your facts straight rather than focusing primarily on trashing others you would have read that the twins are now 4 years old. So even you acknowledge that normal procedure would be to give custody to the mother. It is ironic that your next comment calls for first knowing the pertinent facts - something you obviously haven't done - before you wrongly criticized me.
Delete
DeleteFrom the article:
Losing custody has meant that Alexander’s twin boys only see their mother each Tuesday and every second Sunday, visits that in practice have often been cancelled by the father. Each time, she has to pay €44 for required supervision. In between the twins, who turned 4 in May, have been cared for by two Filipino nannies, neither of whom speaks German and only one some broken English, according to Dr. Willy Weisz, who accompanied Alexander on one visit. Those who often suffer most in custody battles are the children. “Being snatched from their mother, in the presence of police, even if the father is the best one in the world, is a very traumatising experience,” Wörgötter explained. The most important attachment figure for children at such a young age is the mother, she said, and if children lose their mother, a proper replacement has to be found – “otherwise the successful development of children can be heavily disturbed.”
So we don't quite know who violated halocho here and went to the goyim and their arko'oys and we are involving ourselves. Let us first know the pertinent facts.
ReplyDelete"Losing custody has meant that Alexander’s twin boys only see their mother each Tuesday and every second Sunday"
ReplyDeleteGee, when its the father who can only see the children twice -- or less -- per week, you don't hear too many complaints.
The father has as much right as anyone to have primary custody.
Congratulations to the father.
"All of them, it seems, have forgotten about the two 4-year-old boys."
ReplyDeleteI fear JJ may have fallen into that category.