Parental alienation in family court in Malta and the lack of state intervention or proper preventative legislation

Abstract

This paper analyses these concepts from the point of view of the Maltese legal system and the Family Court in Malta. First, it depicts the Maltese Family Court situation, underlying how one may conclude that certain practices and procedures in Malta infringe art 8 of the ECHR. The following section deals with parental alienation and human rights. Then through a study of a case by the ECtHR against Malta, the paper explains the hot issues that need to be addressed so that the Maltese Family Court falls in line with the ECHR. The paper’s final part concludes with recommendations for Malta to be in line with the ECHR. In this paper, Malta is taken as a microcosm of many European Family Courts who also face similar challenges to be in line with human rights regarding child access and maintenance.