In the UK You Can’t Sue for Paternity Fraud

The judge, sitting with Lord Justice Aikens and Mr. Justice Bennett, said: 'This whole case can be categorised as a misfortune to all those engaged in it. I would not wish to be the one to extend their misfortunes further.'

With those words a British judge declined to allow a man who had been the victim of carefully calculated paternity fraud for 18 years, to recover damages for that fraud from his ex-wife.  Cuckoldry is now officially enshrined in British law.  It appears to be the policy of the British state to, if not outright promote it, not discourage it either.  Read about it here.

So why does the Crown choose deception over honesty?  It's a choice that seems unique to this case.  Does the United Kingdom opt for dishonesty in, say, commercial transactions?  If the purveyor of swamp water and turpentine represents the concoction as a cure for cancer which just happens to kill those who partake, do its learned justices tell us that it's just all a big 'misfortune' which court proceedings would only 'extend?'  I suspect they do not, which raises the question of why they do in this case?

Could it have anything to do with the sexes of the adversaries, or the unstated assumption that, in all things familial, mother must be deferred to?  Or  perhaps it's the parallel assumption that dad doesn't really care about his children so why should we care about his parental rights?

Somehow these justices seem to have forgotten the concept that civil courts exist to make recompense for civil wrongs.  Does it occur to them that, if a man hires a lawyer and sues, he is presumably willing to bear whatever costs, financial and emotional, the process may impose on him?  My guess is that they do understand those things, but the idea of suing a wife and mother for her behavior in those capacities was just too much for them to contemplate.

MLK said that the arc of history is long but it bends towards justice.  Sometimes it's hard to tell.

But until the long arc gets to men's parental rights, remember to always ask for a DNA test at the hospital.  If your wife/significant other object, just say "Dear, it's not you.  This is my problem.  I've read so many horror stories about paternity fraud and I just can't get them out of my mind.  If I don't do this it'll always haunt me."

Thanks to Mandy for the heads-up.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 31st, 2009 at 2:19 pm and is filed under blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. | 504 views | Trackback | Print this page |

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