Waiting to be jailed
Jobless father could not afford to appeal maintenance ruling
David Muscat says he could not afford to pay maintenance after losing his job. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi
David Muscat expects a policeman to knock on his door at any minute to take him to serve a month in jail for not paying his ex-wife maintenance while he was temporarily unemployed.
“My bags are packed. I’m waiting for someone to come and get me,” the 52-year-old told The Sunday Times, claiming he did not have enough money to appeal against the decision.
Mr Muscat said he could not understand in the first place how the Civil Court fixed the monthly maintenance to his ex-wife and their three children at €1,000 – which included €300 per child and €100 for his wife – when a court-appointed legal procurator recommended it should be €580.
An appeal court later reduced the maintenance to €400 per month – €200 for two of the children as one had become an adult and no maintenance for the wife – but by that time he had lost his job.
This meant he failed to make payments for four months, as his only income was €380 per month in social benefits.
Last Wednesday, Magistrate Anthony Vella sentenced Mr Muscat to a month’s imprisonment for failing to make the required maintenance payments.
He had a week to appeal but claimed he could not afford to pay the court and legal fees.
While not getting into the details of the separation case, Mr Muscat feels he was the victim of the Civil Court decision in October last year that set maintenance at a rate he could not afford – even while he was employed at a restaurant.
The Sunday Times saw a document issued by the Employment and Training Corporation showing that he and another three employees were made redundant in October 2011.
His wife filed a report when he failed to pay maintenance between December 2011 and March 2012, which is when criminal proceedings were issued against him.
Mr Muscat said he found a job in March and started earning just under €800 a month.
He borrowed money to appeal against the Civil Court decision and, last June, the appeal court reduced the maintenance to €400.
However, the latest development has upset Mr Muscat.
“If a person does not find the money to appeal against such a decision, will he have to live with that for the rest of his life? Even at the cost of living in poverty?
“How can I get reimbursed for all the money and time wasted?”
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117 Comments
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Louis Muscat
Nov 12th 2012, 14:22
Going to prison. Well what if he loses his job, how is he expected to pay for the maintenance?
Jurgen Farrugia
Nov 12th 2012, 12:09
This is what seperation and divorce get and the poor state of our judicial system. One scandal after another. First a mother jailed because her son fsiled to visit his estranged father and now a minth improsinment for not havung money to pay maintenance. And yet, magistrates and judges are getting thousands of euros in raises....hooray...
Eric Soames
Nov 12th 2012, 12:08
Rod Stewart, after one of his divorces, quoted the late Lewis Grizzard: "Instead of getting married again, I'm going to find a woman I don't like and just give her a house."
Michelle Vella
Nov 12th 2012, 11:45
If he spends time in prison, what type of society do we live in??? He is a victom of laws that protect only one side... I hope this can be looked into to make things right!!!
C Muscat
Nov 12th 2012, 10:06
Jail for the father or the mother in such cases is doing more harm than any kind of justice produced. When there is no agreement we follow the example of Solomon, we divide the children; the children will go with the parent that can keep them otherwise the authorities find a home where these will be adopted.
The sooner the better.
Anthony Pace
Nov 12th 2012, 07:53
In a normal EU country maintaince, telephone, etc. would be paid for by social services. Therefoe in this case the maintaince should be paid for by social services till the man finds another job!!!
Hossam Helwani
Nov 12th 2012, 09:21
@ anthony pace, I shudder to think if this method was to be adopted in Malta!!!!!!!! Just consider how convenient it would be to fake it all. I do not think that this should be available God Forbid , with single mothers telling us a story about mysterious phantom fathers I do not think I would wish to know more!
fred sammut
Nov 12th 2012, 10:25
sakemm niftah il gazzeta u nsib li hemm nies jridu jhadmu in nies ma tantx nemmen li ma jsibux xol. VERU li jhallsu bil karawet imma minn irrid jahdem jaghmel dak li hemm bzonn.
Carmel Garcia
Nov 12th 2012, 07:22
Keep fighting for your rights David. An old friend of yours from Tarxien. May God we served as altar boys be with you.
Joe Fenech
Nov 12th 2012, 07:20
In a normal country, which Malta isn't ,maintenance is a percentage of one's earnings. Laughable courts as usual.
A. MICALLEF
Nov 12th 2012, 07:08
Ma hemm l-ebda bzonnli xi Qorti iggielghek titma u thares l-uliedek. In-natura iggielhek
li tghamel minn kollox ghal-wliedek.
Anthony Paul Naudi
Nov 12th 2012, 05:44
Hafna paroli u il-verita' ta' x'gara benj din il-koppja mizzewga Alla u huma biss jafu u hadd aktar .Flok paroli li wiehed jikkonforta lil din il-koppja aktar inkebbsu n-nar. Ghidu grazzi lil Alla li ma tkunux f'din is-sitwazzjoni ghax imsieken it-tfal li l-flus mhux ser jissostitwixxu l-ghaqda fil-familja u it-tfal ma jkollhomx genituri permanenti biex jircevu l-imhabba taghhom
A.P.Naudi
Nadir Sammut
Nov 12th 2012, 03:30
In Japan, basically you choose:
Pay wife + keep kids
Wife keeps kids + no pay
Who wants to care for the kids, has to pay.
Unless there is domestic abuse (with EVIDENCE!)
Carmel Garcia
Nov 14th 2012, 11:07
Agreed
stephen mifsud
Nov 12th 2012, 03:25
very unfair to,send this man to jail the courts should be making both parents share the cost to bring these children up and its up to them if they want to live apart but for the children they are both responsible for there needs ...so,if takes € 1000 a minth in food cost and clothing etc then its splitsville ...
Gustav Svensson
Nov 11th 2012, 21:14
From this article it's not possible to form an opinon if this guy is a victim or not. In any case I can imagine that there are a lot fatheres who are irrisponsible and that in some cases a sentence must be handed out...
Mariella Caruana
Nov 11th 2012, 20:28
I know a lot of fathers who purposely stop working so as not to give maintenance to their children and work clandestinely.
Paul Bajada
Nov 11th 2012, 21:09
and you think there are no mothers who are ALSO supposed to pay alimonies but invent all sorts of excuses not to work and dont pay alimonies to their kids?
mark borg
Nov 11th 2012, 21:28
then you should do your duty and report them to the authorities
K. Vella II
Nov 11th 2012, 22:35
And I know a lot of women who claim to be in need of money when i) they hold a full-time job ii) they moved in (with the kids) with a partner who also holds a full-time job. And yet the ex-husband keeps paying the alimony.
Michelle Vella
Nov 11th 2012, 22:36
But its not the case here.... Mr. Muscat genuinely lost his job and the court failed to see the real picture!!!!
R. Gauci
Nov 11th 2012, 23:33
And go to prison? Courts aren't lenient with men as with women my dear.
Louis Muscat
Nov 11th 2012, 23:44
Mariella, if you had read the article properly, you should see that he was not the only one who was redundant. If you want to speak in general, Yes I also know a lot mothers who plays the innocent type and then one can see them at Paceville flirting with man.
Joe Fenech
Nov 12th 2012, 00:06
What are you trying to insinuate? Do you know what being made redundant means?
Steve Demicoli
Nov 12th 2012, 08:35
And how many separated women do you know who stop working purposely and seek undocumented, clandestine work so that they receive maintenance?
C. Muscat
Nov 12th 2012, 08:36
@K. Vella !! that the woman moved in with another man is beside the point....the kids are still the dad's children...what do you expect that the partner pays through his teeth for the upbringing of the estranged dad's children?! Having said that, this case appears to be genuine and the wife should have given him time to find another job before filing reports, which he did after a couple of months.
r buttigieg
Nov 12th 2012, 22:58
women can work nowadays so no excuses, if you seperated only the kids' share should be granted, the woman needs to fend for herself. welcome to leechville
James Borg
Nov 11th 2012, 19:32
Man and woman should be equal. This is another case where women are better off than men!!
As the famous saying goes: All animals are equal but some are more equal than others.
Kim Borg
Nov 12th 2012, 00:18
I totally agree
Hilda Boulton
Nov 11th 2012, 18:49
Whatever happened to........ 'in the best interest of the Children'....... Anyway, the courts should see the real picture here ....... Business woman/mother with enough income to pay court expences and appeals, money which could have been spent on the children's needs. In the meantime, the father struggles to make ends meet and ends up with jail sentenc! Where is the JUSTICE in this?
Christian Sciberras
Nov 11th 2012, 19:11
I don't even see them mentioning the children. Having to pay a monthly maintenance fee does not mean his wife/children are dying of poverty...
C. Vella
Nov 11th 2012, 17:32
If this man spends prison time then we are living in a really sick society. After all a wife who blatantly refused to obey court orders was granted a presidential pardon. Now Mr President since you set the ball in motion keep those pardons coming.
Andrew Terry Buttigieg
Nov 11th 2012, 18:41
I would give my vote to the politician who brings thing equal and fair. Thats all I say for any other man who sees this as unfair.
Anthony Paul Naudi
Nov 12th 2012, 01:54
That's a very good comment.
A.P.Naudi
B Attard
Nov 11th 2012, 17:13
Sending him to jail won't help his family
Aldo Buttigieg
Nov 11th 2012, 20:03
You are right Mr. Attard
C Muscat
Nov 11th 2012, 16:56
I hope that the President of Malta can look into this and if it as per article; a pardon will be issued.
Denis Pace
Nov 11th 2012, 19:54
Issa zzejjed....Trial by media or by BLOGGERS!
Leave the president out of this!
Martin Saliba
Nov 11th 2012, 20:34
Deis , the ag , cabinet and the president opened pandoras box , its up to them to make things right .
Brian Gatt
Nov 12th 2012, 11:31
Sorry we cant leave the President out of this he got in it when he issued the first pardon...what's good for the Goose is good for the Gender now Mr President
E. Vassallo
Nov 11th 2012, 16:41
there are two sides to every story
Robert Callus
Nov 11th 2012, 16:06
Where is this obsession with sending people to jail coming from? (Unless they're violent of course. Violent criminals tend to get suspended sentences)
This is a civil issue and should be treated as civil, not criminal.
Joseph Micallef
Nov 11th 2012, 15:55
How come Mr. Muscat did not have his share of the 20,000 jobs created by GonziPN? And yet GonziPN said that 'ix-xoghol jigri wara l-bniedem u mhux bil-maqlub'. Wish you all the best of luck Mr. Muscat. Shame on GonziPN!
J Martinelli
Nov 11th 2012, 16:37
Let's put it trhis way, Joseph Micallef. If it rains, it's Gonzi's fault, but when the sun shines, it's all to Joseph's credit, no?
Let's hope that when Joseph becomes PM, the sun will shine all the time!
Joseph Micallef
Nov 11th 2012, 20:17
Let's put it this way Mr. Martinelli. Your argument surely doesn't hold! Did I mention Dr. Muscat? Mhux GonziPN made so much fuss about the 20,000 jobs? about the ultra, mega, enormous Brazilian company? Mhux GonziPN tried to ridicule Dr. Muscat on a simple, humble question about the status of the Brazilian firm? So GonziPN is to be criticized not Dr. Muscat!
mark borg
Nov 11th 2012, 21:29
maybe he was employed with the very very large BRAZILIAN company
Peter Murray
Nov 11th 2012, 15:49
FAO ELAINE CAMPAGNO Now you think! Why would you remotely consider that his children"are going hungry and without their basic needs?" You still never answered my question as in how do expect him to live on 95 euros a week let alone pay maintenance out of that?He isn't denying that he should pay maintenance is he nor did he not pay such -but only when ne could afford it as when earning a wage.
m busuttil
Nov 11th 2012, 17:32
so sorry but then he should not have had children, if he was a lawyer or doctor or whatever he worked or works if need be he goes to clean the roads or any degrading job to be able to feed your children who never asked to come in this world to suffer
Elaine Compagno
Nov 11th 2012, 17:37
Dear Peter Murray, there are MOTHERS keeping themselves and their children on 425 Eur a month, while paying rent after leaving their husbands following years of abuse while the husband gets away with not paying alimony with impunity because the police force 'cannot find him' to serve him with the summons.
Maybe you cannot imagine it. Maybe you should try wearing someone else's shoes for a day.
John Dee
Nov 11th 2012, 18:57
m busuttil - so no-one should have children just in case their marriage fails? Very bright response.
m busuttil
Nov 11th 2012, 19:42
Mr. Dee, what I said if you decide to bring children in this world you need to see to all their needs and when you have lost job you do what you do not like if need be clean toilet drains as the children never asked to be born so its up the parents to see that they have food,clothes and what they might need for education I am not saying mobile and so on just enough to be like all other kids
m busuttil
Nov 11th 2012, 19:46
Mr. Dee, when my late husband was sick and without a job I had twins under a year old and to make ends meet I look after another set of twins under 3 months so I was looking after a very sick man, 3 older children and two sets of twins to be able to provide all with a warm meal the parents are to provide to their offspring no if or buts
R. Borg
Nov 11th 2012, 20:35
m busuttil the MOTHER should get to clean the roads and provide for her children in the same way as the father should provide assistance for his children. But why should a mother earn her living when when she can get everything for free from her unemployed ex husband. Similar injustices are the order of the day.
Elaine Compagno
Nov 11th 2012, 22:11
R. Borg, perhaps she should. After all, taking on the couple's children like they were her own only is expected of any woman. Many child care centres around to ship kids off to while the mother works all the hours god gave her, to make a living. I mean, why on earth should the father carry any burden or shoulder any responsibility for heaven's sake! It's not like he was there to make the babies!
Isabel Vassallo
Nov 11th 2012, 15:46
To all those men who are saying women do not deserve marriage and that we are not worth it...Keep yourself rest assured that no woman in her right mind would ever want someone like you!! As regards this case , i feel very sorry for what is happening to this man especially if he was good to his wife and they are separated because of her. There are good women and good men around.
Andrew Terry Buttigieg
Nov 11th 2012, 18:40
Shame and Shame... say something constructive such as men are afraid of marriage cause laws are becoming so draconian towards men.
Stannis Baratheon
Nov 11th 2012, 15:42
This, my friends, is why so many men don't want to get married. It is a trap.
Justin Spiteri
Nov 11th 2012, 15:40
Curiosity. The alimony given to the woman.... does she have to prove she spent it all on the kids?. Via receipts given to the courts indicating products for children and not make ups, designer clothes, etc?.
C. Muscat
Nov 12th 2012, 08:43
Lol....designer clothes with Eur1000 per month and 3 children to look after!!!! Seriously?!!!
John Zammit Ph.D.
Nov 11th 2012, 15:31
Custody and maintenance cases should not end up in jail, we at Association for Men's Rights - www.freewebs.com/mensrightsmalta - have said it many times. It is high time that the law is changed because both men and women who are sent to jail will end in a more disastrous situation with mostly the children who are hit most.
m busuttil
Nov 11th 2012, 17:39
agree the best is to go and find anything collect rubbish if need be as only the children are always suffering before we decide to have children we must plan to see that they at least have the basic things hot food , clothes,schooling ,at least this goes to both parents to see to their children's wellbeing they never asked to be born you had the pleasure you now need to see that you find work
j camilleri
Nov 11th 2012, 15:23
The government should build a complex for these hopeless case people and treat them like homeless BUT give them an unpaid job that the country needs ... like a big clean up the country, sweeping the roads, because they are becoming a burden on our taxes. it's useless putting them in jail. I'm sure the island will shine with these type of people :)
Andrew Terry Buttigieg
Nov 11th 2012, 18:34
I can't believe you just said that. I wonder how you would feel put into that situation.
K. Vella II
Nov 11th 2012, 22:38
How does putting them in a home for 'hopeless cases' help them get employed?
Vincent Bezzina
Nov 11th 2012, 15:06
Tonio - now that we are out recession and with 36 millions new jobs created - siblu bicca job lill dal bniedem!!
connie grixti
Nov 11th 2012, 18:12
This person has a job and is willing to pay alimony according to his wages. Will he still have a job if he goes to jail?
marc pace
Nov 11th 2012, 14:49
women hafe too many rights nowadays
paul camilleri
Nov 11th 2012, 14:39
i wonder if the women`s group who begged the president for a pardon for a woman that was sentenced to jail for not encouraging her son to met his dad would now do the same for this person should he be arrested?
Andrew Terry Buttigieg
Nov 11th 2012, 14:27
Unfortunately Alimony and Divorce, make marrying risky.. about half of the total cases of suicide are from Married Men divorced, in the UK. Statistically the Suicide rate is 4 Males for 1 Female. Don't think Malta won't become the same, its happening in India, America and even Australia. The 'no-fault' divorce is the biggest joke of all. Laws are baised against the Male parent period
matthew tanti
Nov 11th 2012, 14:26
verifying the facts should be easy via the justice services website. but wednesday's judgements are not yet uploaded! however one can access the judgement of the appeal court with the following details : Muscat Helga Vs Muscat David 28/06/2012, in order to read the facts before judging.
A. E. ABELA
Nov 11th 2012, 14:09
Xortieh hazina dar ragel...kien hemm 20,000.00 job ..miskin ma misux wiehed.
Mr John Borg
Nov 11th 2012, 14:56
Skuzani tafx, 350,000,000 job kien hemm!!
joseph green
Nov 11th 2012, 15:13
Imma kif kollox politika taghmlu , ikber naqra habib
Jason Zammit
Nov 11th 2012, 15:26
Get a life siehbi ......
Justin Spiteri
Nov 11th 2012, 15:36
20,000 Job ta 600 EUR fix xahar minimum wage?
Antoine Zammit
Nov 11th 2012, 13:53
@ anthony sultana... I for one have decided to remain single!!! An enjoy my pay for myself. Women nowadays are not trustworthy and to marry, then inevitably separate and have to work for the lasta to maintain them, whilst nothing tells you, you are the actual biological father of the kids, is simply not worthed to me. How things are today, Stay SINGLE!! Women do not deserve marriage anymore.
Jeanette Stivala
Nov 11th 2012, 14:37
Hey do NOT judge all woman as un trustworthy how dare you I have been married for over 30 years and Im sure my husband is happy .Maybe as you are such a male chauvinist you don.t deserve to have a wife, and when you are old and lonely I am sure you and your money will be happy enjoy
Mr robert micallef
Nov 11th 2012, 14:52
ah well enjoy your pay then. for me when my kids tell me im the best papa in the world that makes my day. as for a wife you should chose someone who is worth to be your lifelong companion. but then you have to spend the rest of your life being her best companion.
Andrew Terry Buttigieg
Nov 11th 2012, 18:47
@Jeanette Stivala - all people can be attributed to trust and mis-trust. Being Female doesn't afford you a special 'I am good' status.
Joseph M. Grech.
Nov 11th 2012, 13:39
It is said that sometimes they even "lose" their jobs on purpose just out of spite or because it is more worthwhile.
Alex Ellul
Nov 11th 2012, 13:24
Western society is verging on a finacia collapse, a logical consequence of the breakdown of conventional family and long-established values that had created our society in the first place. We have chiseled away at the core of those foundations upon which our western society was successfully built and which had also been adopted by many other cultures across the globe. We have committed social-cide
Joseph Sant
Nov 11th 2012, 15:07
Agreed. I sometimes think that even if one do not beleive in Religion, one should enforce certain rules as these make econimical sense. One should suffer for the good of the whole. We cannot get the cake and eat it, if we got married suck it up and stay that way till you rot and die, you are just a number and you better accept it. Try to mend your marriage, there is no easy way out my friend.
Peter Murray
Nov 11th 2012, 13:19
Maintenance can only be paid pro-rata to earnings -if not earning how can this payment be demanded?
B Attard
Nov 11th 2012, 13:19
dal qrati taghna ma tistax taqbdilhom irkaptu. nemmenli bis-sentenzi li jaghtu aktar jkomplu jaqalghu disgwit u nkwiet bejn il-familji
Alex Ellul
Nov 11th 2012, 13:18
I don't know about this guy, but for sure there are others who work in the black economy for the simple reason to avoid paying alimony, while on the other side of the fence, woman do the same so they would be able to claim alimony. It must be the new world order, I presume.
Steve Elliott
Nov 11th 2012, 13:17
anyone tell me? after serving the prison sentence, are the arrears quashed and if so who then pays the arrears to the mother?
Colin Camilleri
Nov 11th 2012, 14:44
Debts are translated into prison terms, meaning these are considered paid in full with the fulfillment of the prison term.
Elaine Compagno
Nov 11th 2012, 16:04
As far as I know, the maintenance owed is still owed. The prison term is for the crime. The mother can then sue the father in a small claims case once he is out.
Andrew Terry Buttigieg
Nov 11th 2012, 18:44
@Elaine Compagno.... chilling the fact you know such knowledge.
Mr Kevin Zammit
Nov 11th 2012, 13:09
I hope that this is not another case of people hiding behind the law and taking advantage of it to exact their personal revenge. These laws are meant to protect the vulnerable.
Michelle Vella
Nov 11th 2012, 22:58
Facts are facts... This is more a case of human rights! The laws are meant to protect the vulnerable??? And yet it is the same law who is attacking the vulnerable!
Joe Scerri
Nov 11th 2012, 11:29
You try to kill someone by running over the victim with a car - scot free.
You are shown on camera beating up someone - 60 euros
You miss a maintenance payment - one month prison.
Our justice system is a sick joke.
Elaine Compagno
Nov 11th 2012, 11:46
If those two months are the only times he missed payments, I find the sentence surprising. I know women who have been going to court for years over unpaid maintenance for nothing. The inconsistency is astounding.
I think he should have split his limited income with his kids. When a non-separated father loses his job, the whole family relies on his unemployment benefits - not just himself.
J Galea
Nov 11th 2012, 13:41
Mr Scerri here has a point...
Charles Fenech
Nov 11th 2012, 13:54
kemm nikkoregik wahda, wehlu 60 euro mhux ghax sawtu imma minhabba l ilbies mhux xiraq ghal qorti. jigifiri tallu sawtu ma wehlu XEJN.
Elaine Compagno
Nov 11th 2012, 11:29
Cont.. Did he give any of his 380 E to his wife for his kids to at least show he still wants to fill his obligations towards his children? The way the court sees things is, that even if you lose your job, you have to feed your kids. Your obligation towards them doesn't stop. Most of us would do anything, even sell their belongings to feed their kids. Jail right away? There's more to it, I'm sure.
Martin Saliba
Nov 11th 2012, 12:04
Of course theres more to it, this parent is male !!
Peter Murray
Nov 11th 2012, 13:26
Try living on 95 euros a week before giving any away as maintenance payments
Elaine Compagno
Nov 11th 2012, 14:33
Peter Murray, a person has children living with him/her and has 95 eur a week, would he or she leave their kids hungry and without their basic needs because they only have 95 eur??? Please think. Maintenance is not a gift. It is the livelihood of a family/children for which someone is responsible in keeping.
C. Vella
Nov 11th 2012, 17:27
Elaine Compagno in reality this person is more entitled to a presidential pardon than the mother of the 16yr old who blatantly refused to obey the court. This man is a victim of laws that protect the wives but not the husbands. Equality must be two way and not exclusive to women.
Mark A. Sammut
Nov 11th 2012, 11:26
The epitome of the emergence of a new social class: separated/divorced men. The phenomenon has already been reported in Italy: http://notizie.it.msn.com/topnews/notizia.aspx?cp-documentid=151186250.
As one legal thinker has written, rights depend on affluence. Only a rich society can afford to give a huge number of rights to its citizens. Otherwise, rights have to be rationed and sacrifices made.
Elaine Compagno
Nov 11th 2012, 11:24
From my limited knowledge of how these things work, as soon as he lost his job, he would have been entitled to legal aid. And he should have immediately informed the courts - not only because he could not afford 1,000 Eur on his restaurant wages, but to adjust the maintenance according to his present income. He has two months it seems, to do that.
connie grixti
Nov 11th 2012, 19:19
But the courts have to listen, not have people file a "Rikors" for nothing. Also to make sense, such a "rikors" should be filed with no charge.
Charles Muscat
Nov 11th 2012, 11:20
What a stupid law.
Louis Muscat
Nov 11th 2012, 16:51
The law in Malta always on the side of the women.What about that other woman who was giving a pardon, without taking into consideration of all the facts.
Charles Muscat
Nov 11th 2012, 11:18
How do we know where the money end up?
James McIntosh
Nov 11th 2012, 10:49
This case holds two possibilities. Either Mr David Muscat is oversimplifying the facts or the Maltese legal system really is incompetent. I for one am not sure which is the real truth. How can a person without income pay out more than he receives in benefits. Our supposedly highly educated lawyers and judges seem to have difficulty with simple mathematics. Sadly, this is not an isolated case.
Louis Muscat
Nov 11th 2012, 16:54
I agree with you, but I have my suspicions about the some judges.
Giovanni Bonello
Nov 11th 2012, 10:36
I have known David Muscat as a teenager working for a client of mine, and all the years since, up to his last job in a Chinese restaurant. I would have difficulties homing on a person more hardworking and reliable.
The European Convention makes it a fundamental right for a person not to be imprisoned for contractual debt. If Malta has ratified Protocol 4, I perceive problems there.
The case-law of the Strasbourg Court on Art. 5 is to the effect that persons can be imprisoned to ensure the fulfilment of any obligation prescribed by law, but only if it is proved that the debtor had the means to fulfil that obligation and still failed to do so.
I am voicing my concerns from a human rights point of view.
A. MICALLEF
Nov 11th 2012, 10:30
There are many fathers doing 2 or 3 jobs to support their family. I am sure that you can find some
kind of a job or more than one, and if you dont than your place is in prison untill you are convinced
to work and provide for YOUR family. Too many of these people and fake unknown fathers
defrauding our social welfare from the taxpayers money.
m busuttil
Nov 11th 2012, 17:47
agree 1000%
connie grixti
Nov 11th 2012, 19:53
If you had understood the article, the point is that our courts should be more sensitive in their judgements
Matthew Grima
Nov 12th 2012, 18:48
Since you are able to write, you are able to read. So scroll back up and read the article.
And why can't the mother work?
Mr Adrian Vella
Nov 11th 2012, 10:22
NO PRESIDENTIAL PARDON FOR THIS GUY?????
anthony sultana
Nov 11th 2012, 09:50
We have more people going to prison for marriage promblems then any thing else.This kind of situation is going to make people thing twice before they form a family.Well it looks like in a few years time the population of Malta is going to be with different people due to the Maltese men are being warn hard about the consequences of marriage.
C Briffa
Nov 11th 2012, 09:48
hope that the president will pardon him as well
Steve Demicoli
Nov 11th 2012, 10:26
Agree 100% - hope the feminists don't object though
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