The grandparents of a child born out of wedlock could not institute proceedings for the recognition of the child's father unless the father had previously declared himself to have fathered the child, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

The heirs of a man who died in 2007 had requested the courts to declare that a boy born shortly after the death was his son.

The court heard that the man, Gareth Bordieri, had cohabited with Anne Marie Aquilina who was the child's mother. The boy was registered as having an unknown father.

Mr Bordieri's heirs called upon Ms Aquilina to declare that Mr Bordieri was the boy's father but she refused to do so. The heirs then filed their court case to obtain this declaration.

Ms Aquilina objected to the heirs' request and claimed that they had no legal right to file such an action.

The Family Court upheld the heirs' request and Ms Aquilina then appealed to the Court of Appeal composed of Chief Justice Vincent Degaetano, Mr Justice Albert J Magri and Mr Justice Tonio Mallia.

On appeal the court found in favour of Ms Aquilina and revoked the first court's judgment.

A child born out of marriage could be recognised by the father or by the mother whether jointly or separately. the recognition had to take place on the registration of the birth. The law also allowed a man who claimed to be the father to effect this recognition by a notarial deed.

In the latter case the putative father had to obtain the mother's consent in order to make this declaration.

An action for the recognition of the paternity of the child could be filed by the child himself, or by his parents. It could not filed by the heirs of an alleged father if the father himself had not made this declaration.

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