The legal separation of my wife and I was decided by the Family Court on 7 October 2011 by Judge Joseph Azzopardi, who was our judge during the six-year long hearing.

As with all such cases, the court appointed Dr Stefano Filletti as our Legal Procurator. Dr Filletti was always present and acted on behalf of the Judge at the court sittings and heard witnesses of both parties in the case. He took notes of all that was said at all the hearings, and even witnessed all the documents presented by both parties.

These hearings gave Dr Filletti all the evidence and documentation he required in order to make his sentence recommendation to the Judge regarding the decision.

On 22 October 2010, Dr Filletti gave a copy to each party as stipulated by law, after his bill had been paid. Up until this point, everything was done according to the law.

After the report had been issued, Judge Azzopardi told both me and the plaintiff to present a petition if we did not agree with Dr Filletti’s recommendations.

At one hearing, in June 2011, the Judge said (his exact words): “Li kieku ir-rikorsi ghamiltuhom, kont intikom is-sentenza illum, ghax qeda hawn lesta” (“If you had submitted the petitions, I would have been able to pass judgement today, because it is ready.”), touching the pile of files he had on his desk. This was heard by everyone in court that day. The Judge then turned to Dr Lesley Cuschieri (the plaintiff’s lawyer), and said – again, these are his exact words: “Ma tantx tajtni fuqiex nahdem”. (“You did not give me enough material on which to work.”) Walking out of the Courts, I asked my lawyer what the Judge had meant by all this, and he replied: “Honestly, I don’t know why the Judge said that.” The Judge referred his judgement until 7 October 2011, after he had reviewed the petitions of both parties, together with Dr Filletti’s report.

In my last petition (prior to the judgement of 7 October 2011), I stated that I no longer had a job, as my company had closed down and issued termination notices to all its employees, and I attached copies of this letter and the ETC confirmation of the termination of my employment. Judge Azzopardi could clearly see that I no longer had a job and that my financial circumstances had drastically changed.

On 7 October, at about 11am, while my spouse and I were waiting to be called for our hearing that was supposed to be at 9am, the Judge suddenly remembered that we where there waiting for his final judgement. Instead of calling us to come forward so that he could read the judgement aloud, as stipulated by Maltese law, the Judge told us that he only had one copy! He said that if we wanted to see the judgement, we would have to go on the internet to read it there! Probably in the near future we will have court cases heard on the internet, instead of having to go to court!

This was so unprofessional, we all wasted a day and were told by the Judge to go back home and read it there. But this was not all. The Judge also said (again, his exact words): “Jista jkun hemm appell fuqha din” (There could be an appeal on this)! How can a judge be so unsure of his own judgement? How can he question his own work? Why did he assume that there would be an appeal?

I printed out the sentence, read it very carefully and could not believe my eyes! I could see that the Judge had totally ignored the fact that I had stated that I was now unemployed. In his judgement, however, not only had he ignored the fact that I am now unemployed, but he had stated that I am even earning €100 a month in tips – which was the first time tips had been mentioned in the whole case. Below are some points from the judgement:

Maintenance

· Maintenance of €300 monthly per child, ie €900 monthly (for 20 days a month, because my three children stay with me for 10 days a month)

Maintenance of €100 a month for my spouse (who runs a business that forms part of our matrimonial home that she had previously abandoned.)

· My monthly income (before I lost my job) was €1,100

· After deducting the maintenance for my three children and my spouse, I am left with a mere €100 per month!

· My spouse had left the matrimonial home about two-and-a-half years before she filed for a legal separation. She subsequently filed a petition to move back into our matrimonial home, and the Judge gave me four months to leave so that she could move in. However, I was never notified by the court (as per Civil Law Kap 16-44 4) of this decision and only learnt of it two months before I had to vacate.

· During the court hearing, my spouse always declared that she had closed down her business, as she was not making money. But in his ruling, the Judge said that when the matrimonial home was sold, my spouse would be entitled to an additional sum of €20,000 for having lost her job. The business belonged to both of us, as it was the garage of the matrimonial home.

· I was given a 30 per cent share of the company that I was employed with in my last job. From the company’s (MFSA registered) memorandum, the shares cost LM1.50 each, so my shares were worth Lm450 (€1, 100 approx.). The company had no assets and the company’s auditors confirmed that it had never paid any dividend. Therefore the shares’ value remained the same, ie €1,100).

· The Judge decided that I had to give my spouse €11,650.00 which, according to him, was the value of the shares (assumed by the Judge himself). The court never appointed an expert to put a value on these shares, and/or audit the company’s books to ascertain a value. However, the judgement was that my spouse should all the equipment for her business.

· The Judge clearly stated that a medical issue, pointed out by my spouse, was the reason for the breakdown of our marriage but this was his personal conclusion and medical experts were appointed to carry out an in-depth investigation into such allegations. (kap 124)

· On top of it all, the Judge ruled that I had to pay 70 per cent and my spouse 30 per cent of the court expenses. It has to be kept in mind that the Legal Procurator’s recommendations and the Judge’s final ruling were not compliant. We paid quite a large sum of money for the Legal Procurator’s work, which the Judge threw in the rubbish bin.

· The Judge ruled that I was to blame for the breakdown of our marriage, without giving any credible evidence.

Does former Minister of Justice and Home Affairs Karm Mifsud Bonnici know what was going on in his courts? Did he ever investigate his Courts for such discrimination? Or did he have more important matters to deal with such as posing on national TV, waving good-bye to the immigrants leaving the island?

Obviously, I had no other alternative but to borrow money and appeal against the absurd judgement of 7 October 2011 by Judge Azzopardi.

I had no job, was in debt and had to do what was right for me and for the future of my children. And I could not possibly survive if I had to pay €1,000 per month.

After the sentence and during the Appeal

I was unemployed for only five months and in March 2012 I found a job, that pays a monthly salary of €800.

The appeal was heard quickly. In only three hearings we were given a sentence that was very different from the first one, and very similar to Dr Filletti’s recommendations.

· The Court of Appeal concluded that the blame for the separation was not mine,

· I now have to pay €400 maintenance for the children per month (against €900)

· I am not required to pay maintenance for my spouse (against €100 a month)

· The costs of both the legal separation and the appeal, would be paid 50:50 by each party.

· The Court of Appeal thoroughly investigated all the evidence and documents presented, whereas the first court probably did not even look at them!

Because of the carelessness of the first court, presided over by Judge Azzopardi, we had to go through a lot of unnecessary expense, which is all money taken away from our children.

· Why did the first court, after six years of hearings, not properly investigate before handing down a ruling just to close a case?

· Why did the Court of Appeal change most of the first judgement? Is it because that judgement was not in accordance with the law, or is it that the Judge was not competent to handle a simple separation case?

· Can a Judge be investigated to see how come he arrived at such absurd conclusions?

· If a person cannot find the money to appeal against an absurd sentence that was obviously the result of a judge’s opinion and not in accordance with Family Law, would that person have to live in poverty for the rest of his life?

· Are such sentences breaking up more families, and creating insecurity in the children, instead of bringing couples to a conclusion to live apart but in harmony.

· How can we be reimbursed for all the expenses, legal fees, etc., and time wasted on petitions and reports that were not even acknowledged by the first court?

· Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi has stated: “Fejn mhux sewwa irid jissewwa” (What is not right needs to be fixed).

· Would the Prime Minister investigate my case, so that justice will be done?

David Muscat