Girl's relatives lose bid to nullify care order

A constitutional application filed by three female relatives of a minor girl was yesterday dismissed by Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco, sitting in the First Hall of the Civil Court.

The application was filed by the mother, grandmother and great-grandmother of the girl against the Ministry for Family Affairs and Social Solidarity, the Attorney General, the Director General of the Law Courts, the Foundation for Social Protection Services and Agenzija Appogg.

The three women asked the court to declare that a care order issued in respect of the girl was null and void and to grant them immediate access to the child. They also asked the court to declare that their fundamental human rights had been violated.

The court heard that the girl was born in 1997 to a single mother and that her father was registered as being unknown.

The girl had been placed by her mother under the care of the nuns, while her biological family had free access to her.

In December 2002 the girl had disclosed that she had been sexually abused. She had first told one of the nuns who looked after her and also made the same claim to her social contact.

The girl was immediately placed under an interim care order in order for medical tests to be carried out. These clearly showed that the girl was, in February 2003, suffering from a sexually transmitted disease.

A care order was then issued in her regard.

In yesterday's judgment, the court noted that not every claim of a violation of human rights led to right of access to the Constitutional Court, for the court had to decide whether an applicant had another remedy available at law.

The three women in this case were attacking the care order issued in respect of the girl, and there was no doubt that they had other remedies at law.

The law listed the procedure that had to be taken in order to contest a care order, and such procedure was of a civil and not of a constitutional nature.

The court therefore found that the women's application was null and their requests were of a civil nature.

They had other remedies available to them, and their application was therefore dismissed.