80 jailed for not paying maintenance
A total of 80 people were jailed this year after they were found guilty of not adhering to their alimony contract conditions, Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici said.
He said in reply to a parliamentary question by Nationalist MP Edwin Vassallo that another 16 people were jailed for not allowing their former partner access to the children.
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16 Comments
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J A Borg
Dec 15th 2010, 07:59
May I ask a simple question? With divorce, will this problem be solved, or multiplied? Prevention is better than cure, so what we really need is healthier families, and couples who are PROPERLY prepared BEFORE they tie the knot. Some marriages are broken because the couple are not well prepared, or still immature to take that serious step. Some think married life is only what Hollywood portrays.
Christopher Vella
Dec 16th 2010, 09:51
This has nothing to do with divorce, separation, annulment or co-habiting. Whatever the marital legal state is, children still deserve / need to be fed, clothed and educated.
C.Mangion
Dec 16th 2010, 10:59
And what should happen to the Judicary system? Should a person wait for over 3 months to have a reply on a application to receive maintance from the other part ?
Isabella Peresso Fiorentino
Dec 14th 2010, 21:49
How odd - then you get someone someone who is arrested for a bank robbery is out on bail and commits another armed robbery, and another who's had several crimes to his name goes and shoots his ex-girlfriend point -blank and kills her instantly. I just don't get it.
Karl Farrugia
Dec 14th 2010, 20:56
Are they divorced or separated? I thought it's only divorce that causes problems, while we're perfectly fine as we are.
B.Attard
Dec 14th 2010, 20:09
All about DIRTY money. Those 80 persons were sentenced to prison but the majority of them appealed so they had to pay good money on appealing plus the arrears of maintenance PLUS every time they make use of a lawyers service. Instead of fulfilling their children's requirements.
Our law courts is creating big financial problems regarding family problems.
Luigi Aquilina
Dec 15th 2010, 09:43
well said
Steve Demicoli
Dec 14th 2010, 18:54
Of the "16 people jailed for not allowing their former partner access to the children", how many were male and how many females?
If a father refuses access to the mother is he jailed? if a mother refuses access to the father is she jailed in the same way?
ms p m graham
Dec 14th 2010, 18:54
Pardon me for being naive here, (if I am) but wouldn't garnishing their wages to recoup the monies have been a more sensible idea? What on earth does putting these people in jail do?
"16 people were jailed for not allowing their former partner access to the children"
lets hope that the reasons for disallowing access were taken seriously.
Elaine Compagno
Dec 14th 2010, 20:53
Some people are self employed.. say a painter or an electrician. They may keep no money in the bank and there is no way to guarantee that the monthly alimony is deducted.
For those who are quick on their feet, I'm sure they would not like to know what it is like to be the other parent who has to see this stupid teasing going on while the children do without the daily necessities. Most of the time, the partner who is paying the alimony knows that the only 'control' they have is over the money. So they use it to irk the ex-spouse. On the other hand, the one looking after the children only has the children with what to irk the other spouse. Most caregivers do not succumb to using the children as pawns, but some do.
In any case, the welfare of the children is what should matter the most, and sometimes the threat of jail is all that keeps a parent in line with his or her duties.
I however do not agree that children who are afraid of one of their parents are forced to see them by law.
c. Borg
Dec 14th 2010, 18:43
Boy oh boy. Do we have jails with elastic walls. 96 people sent to jail in just one year for ''family'' problems. Just imagine how many more for the hundred other reasons.
How do we manage to fit them all in there??? It must be very tight fit.
Elaine Compagno
Dec 14th 2010, 21:04
I doubt they are kept in Jail indefinitely. Usually they are jailed for doing it repeatedly, and even then, for a short while. Jail is acting as a deterrent here.. not a grave punishment. Is it worth spending a month away in a cell, ruining your record etc.. ?
We must realise that before a parent eats, their duty is to first feed their children. The alimony is a parent's duty, and when that child grows up, they will measure how loved they were according to how much their parents care for them.. A parent who tries to get out of feeding their kids are the scum of the earth in my opinion, be they the mother or the father.
A parent has 15 days chance to pay the monthly alimony from the agreement date. If their children depend on this for their living, then you must see how critical 15 days can be for a mother who cannot drop everything (including her young children) and bring back a full time wage to support her kids all by herself.
anthony caruana
Dec 14th 2010, 18:43
wow and how many of them were woman ???????
don't you think this is going to cause more problems
i surpose there must be a reason they dont pay
Jail for it i think is unfair and out of date oh sorry it the man fault i forgot ???
before some one start telling me i am a male ###### i not there are a lot of woman hue walk out or dont want the man any more and he get blaimed even if he find some one else it his fault i feel sorry for any man hue has to spend time in jail for this
I Vella
Dec 14th 2010, 21:11
interesting how you write "hue" instead of "who"!!! :)
"Hue" is one of the main properties of a particular colour and has nothing to do with "who" !!
but anyway I agree with you: he hue... erm sorry... he who does not pay alimony shouldn't go to jail, why doesn't the government deduct money from his wage automatically?
Joseph Schembri
Dec 14th 2010, 18:32
Well done Minister. Now it will be us taxpayers paying said maintenance. Minister you seem to think that jail is the mother of all solutions.
Alfred Bugeja
Dec 15th 2010, 09:50
It is the Courts, not the Minister who send people to jail. And they do that by following the laws of our country.
And quite frankly, I can't see anything wrong in sending someone who has not paid maintenance to his former partner and kids, potentially causing hardship to the little ones.