For 4 years a girl (Now 13) has been trying to return to her father
.She had been living with him before a third party made false allegations
of sexual abuse. All charges were dismissed in a High Court hearing.
The Family Court, however, would not return custody to the father. The
reason was that the Counsel for the Child did not present the child's
wishes to the Family Court, would only interview the girl with the mother
present, would not file an affidavit expressing the girl's wishes (even
though asked to do so by the girl), and did not follow the code of practice
of lawyers acting in the Family Court. (The Counsel for the Child is
a self confessed lesbian)
The 13-year-old girl complained to her father
that the Counsel for the Child was not presenting her wishes to the
court.
The girl wrote her wishes down and gave one copy to her father and
one to the Counsel for the Child, to ensure that it reached the court.
The father rang youth law who
were interested and helpful. They said that they could only talk to
the girl and they could not enter into a custody battle. They would
only advocate for the girl if the Counsel for the Child was not doing
the job properly.
The father rang the Counsel for the Child and told her that his daughter
would be making a complaint to youth law and that the Counsel for the
Child would be prosecuted. He was answered with a prolonged silence
and then asked what was the complaint going to achieve. The father repeated
the first statement and outlined the basis for the complaint. The lawyer
asked what the father wanted and he said the return of his daughter.
The lawyer argued and said that this was not possible, so the conversation
ended with the father again stating that he was not going to give up
and that youth law were happy to co-operate.
At 3 oclock that afternoon the Counsel for the
Child rang the father and said that he had custody of his daughter and
that she would be living with him.
