Man fails in bid to assume paternity of partner's son

A man's claim to be acknowledged as the father of a child born out of wedlock was dismissed by the Court of Appeal which confirmed a judgment delivered by the First Hall of the Civil Court.

In 2005, the man had filed a writ in the First Hall of the Court against his former partner. He said that for the past eight years he and the woman (who was legally separated from her husband) had enjoyed a relationship and that a boy was born from their union. However, the woman had registered the boy as being her husband's child.

Although the woman had reiterated that the child was not her husband's, she had not taken any steps to amend his birth certificate. Her husband had also confirmed that he was not the boy's father.

The man asked the court to order a correction of the boy's birth certificate so as to indicate the correct natural father.

The First Hall of the Civil Court however dismissed the man's case and he had recourse to the Court of Appeal composed of Chief Justice Vincent Degaetano, Mr Justice Albert Magri and Mr Justice Tonio Mallia.

On appeal, the court noted that medical tests showed that there was a 99.9999 per cent probability that the man was indeed the boy's natural father. However, this notwithstanding, the first court had dismissed his claim on the basis that he was not entitled to take action to obtain a declaration of paternity.

The law and case law clearly laid down that the natural father of a child had no legal right to file a paternity claim. As a person with an interest in the issue, the natural father was entitled to contest the legitimacy of the child on the basis of the Civil Code.

To be successful, the natural father had to prove that, in the period between 300 days and 180 days before the birth of the child, it was physically impossible for the mother's husband to have cohabited with her.

The Court of Appeal added that it was bound by the contents of the man's writ and had no option but to dismiss his case. In any event, no evidence had been forthcoming to show that it was physically impossible for the woman's husband to cohabit with her in the period established by law.