Filenews 22 June 2025 - by Marios Demetriou
The existing legislative framework concerning Family Law in Cyprus needs a radical revision, while the bills that are discussed in parliamentary committees, on issues of regulation of parental relationships, within the framework of the competences of the Family Court, do not meet the requirements of the times and must be amended, mainly for the benefit of the child.
This message was sent by the Pancyprian Association of Single Parent Families and Friends, through its president Argentoula Ioannou, at the conference it organized on "The proposed Family Law Bills, the principle of gender equality, tackling gender-based violence and parental alienation", on June 13, 2025 at the "Cleopatra" Hotel in Nicosia.
The thematic triptych "Family Law, Gender Equality and Parental Alienation" directly concerns the life and mental health of thousands of children in Cyprus. As Commissioner for Child Protection Despo Michaelidou pointed out in her address to the conference, "the reform of Family Law is both necessary and urgent, since the existing legislative framework, to a large extent, reflects social standards of another era and does not respond to the needs of modern society. Above all, he said, it is necessary to redefine the philosophy and objectives, within the spirit and purpose of the ECtHR jurisprudence and the United Nations reports, with the aim of safeguarding a legal framework that focuses on the child, his safety and well-being – the child as a victim of abuse or as a witness to abusive and violent behaviour.
In her intervention at the conference, Susana Pavlou, president of the Advisory Committee for the Prevention and Combating of Violence in the Family, referred to the Parent-Child Relations Law of 1990, which, as she said, "affects and regulates the daily relationship between parents and children, of a large number of divorced families in Cypriot society and consequently, its amendment, must resolve practical difficulties in order to effectively contribute to the reduction of conflictual divorces, especially in cases involving gender/domestic violence."
Lawyer Kyriaki Charalambous, PhD candidate at the Law Department of the University of Cyprus and member of the Equality Committee of the Cyprus Bar Association, spoke at the conference on "Parental Responsibility and Domestic Violence in the Decisions of the European Court of Human Rights". On the panel was also the officer of the Social Welfare Services (PSS) Georgia Pavlidou, who referred to the Parental Responsibility program operated by the PSOs, "which aims – as she said – to ensure the interest of the minor child". The conference was held with the support of the National Mechanism for Women's Rights, while as mentioned, its conclusions will be submitted to the Minister of Justice and the Legal Committee of the Parliament.
Parental Responsibility and Gender Equality
Speaking on the subject of "The proposed bill for the regulation of parental responsibility, in the light of the principles of gender equality", lawyer Argentoula Ioannou underlined that "since 2018 we have been present in Parliament as the Association of Single-Parent Families and we contribute with proposals, in order to achieve the necessary radical modernization of Family Law, on the basis of the Istanbul Convention of 2017, of the 2021 domestic legislation on violence against women and the 2022 report of the Council of Europe's Group of Experts on Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) for Cyprus".
Mrs. Ioannou said that the positions of the Association of Single Parent Families "are summarized in specific proposals for amendments or additions to the proposed bills, so that there is the necessary gender dimension of the protection and regulations provided. As far as the Law on Parent-Child Relations is concerned, we propose to set the principles that the Family Court must follow, in the interest of the child and with respect to gender equality and the protection of women victims of gender-based violence and children. We also propose a temporary suspension of parental responsibility orders, in the event of a complaint of violence, until it is investigated within a specific short time frame – i.e. the primary legal good, should be the protection of minors and victims, rather than the continuation of communication with a perpetrator of violence. Where an allegation of parental alienation is made, it should be investigated in terms of a court order, in relation to the possible use of violence, i.e. whether the alleged parental alienation conceals and is linked to violence against the minor or the other parent, by the complainant of parental alienation, which should not be decided by the director of the PSOs; but by a psychologist who can also diagnose covert violence."
In relation to the disobedience of a parental responsibility decree, the Association recommends "that a mother should not be sentenced to prison for disobeying a decree, without prior investigation of alleged violent behaviour. In addition, the child should be heard by the Court for reasons that he does not want, either communication or custody, from the applicant for disobedience". The Association's recommendations also include the property relations of spouses, as well as the decrees on the maintenance of minors, in order to "compensate for the unpaid domestic work of mothers in the care of children".
Two rulings of the European Court of Justice
Some characteristic decisions of the ECtHR, in relation to parental responsibility and domestic violence, were presented at the conference by lawyer Kyriaki Charalambous. The first judgment, issued in May 2020, concerns the case of Munteanu v. Moldova. "In this case," he said, "the mother had filed complaints against the abusive husband and father of her young son and had succeeded in issuing a decree for the exclusive use of the family home. Orders had been issued to protect her and her child, but even though he had been ordered to leave the marital home, he continued to stay at home and use violence. In fact, there was an incident where the woman had to be hospitalized for three weeks, after she had been stabbed and her jaw had broken (!). In this context of repeated and serious violence, against the mother, often in the presence of her son and after an incident and a complaint by the woman, the husband said, "but she pushed me too"... Immediately the authorities issued a protection decree in favour of him (!) and ordered her to leave the house! According to the ECtHR, the above constitute an insufficient fulfilment of the state's positive obligations to protect the woman and her son and therefore, there was a violation of Articles 3 and 14 of the Convention on Human Rights in this case." Mrs. Charalambous referred to a second case of I. M. and Others v. Italy, the decision for which was issued in November 2022. The mother had also denounced her husband, mainly for exercising psychological and physical violence against her, in some cases. Nevertheless, the Italian National Family Court decided to continue meetings with his children, while their well-being and safety were not ensured. The ECtHR ruled that the meetings held since 2015 disturbed the psychological and emotional balance of the children, since the father was still aggressive towards the mother, as pointed out by social services, which repeatedly stressed the need for psychological support for the children. At some stage, the mother stopped taking the children to meetings, so proceedings were initiated against her and her parental responsibility was deprived (!). The ECtHR stressed, among other things, in its judgment, that the removal of parental responsibility of the mother by the national court shows that the situation of violence she and her children were experiencing and the pending criminal proceedings against the father for ill-treatment were not taken into account at all. As a result, there was a violation of Article 8 of the Convention on Human Rights, both for the mother and for the children."
"Parental alienation", a tool of manipulation
"It is imperative that the bill amending the Parent-Child Relations Law of 1990 be put back up for consultation and review," said Susana Pavlou in her speech. Both in Cyprus and around the world, victims of domestic violence, the vast majority of whom are women, are held responsible for the impact of abuse on their children, due to their decisions/choices. The lack of accountability for perpetrators, both as perpetrators and parents, leads to an increase in the risk for women and their children, as well as contributes to the impunity of perpetrators. The proposed amendments to this law must ensure in practice and substantially the best interests of the child, as well as the effective implementation of Article 31 of the Istanbul Convention. The court should be informed in a timely manner, in order to immediately regulate the communication decree of the violent parent, in order to ensure the protection of the child (such as suspending its validity, during the period of time when the mother and child are hosted in a place where victims of violence are accommodated). In the context of domestic violence, the best interests of the child are inextricably linked to the interests of the mother/guardian parent. Many parents who are accused of "alienation" are mothers who experience domestic violence and abuse. "Parental alienation" should not be used as a claim to give custody to a father accused of domestic violence, ignoring the risks to the child. The consequences can be serious or even catastrophic for the children, if the court decides that the child should communicate with the abusive father. It is widely known that the term "parental alienation" lacks research/academic credibility and is used as a tool of disorientation, in cases of conflictual divorce and especially in cases of gender/domestic violence. Research has shown that parental custody and communication is often the continuation of psychological and physical abuse of women and children. Of course, there are also cases where parents, men and women, behave abusively and irrationally towards each other after the separation and involve their children in all this."
"Interdisciplinary approach" by the PSOs
The officer of the Social Welfare Services, Georgia Pavlidou, stated that "through the Parental Responsibility program operated by the PSOs, the specialized social services officer is called upon to assist the judge of the Family Court in making a decision, in the cases of parents in a legal dispute, to regulate the exercise of parental responsibility, in order to safeguard the interest of the minor". Mrs. Pavlidou noted that "the PSOs proposed, among other things, the institutionalization of an interdisciplinary approach, through the Provincial Multi-Thematic Group in which, in addition to the PSOs, representatives from the Mental Health Services, the Educational Psychology Services of the Ministry of Education and the Police participate, in order to assess the best interests of the child and recommend the implementation of intermediate measures". He added that "in order to deal with parental alienation in the child's relations with one parent, the issue was raised such as through the issuance of decrees, the cooperation of the PSOs and the PSYs, as well as the rapid and timely adjudication, before a Family Court, of applications for disobedience of court orders. In addition to the above, in cases where both parents have disagreements in view of divorce, an attempt is made to resolve their disputes out of court, through the Mediation in Family Disputes Law of 2019, which is promoted by the Ministry of Justice".
A WOMAN AGAINST THE SYSTEM
Typical for the long-term devaluation of the female status by male-dominated decision-making centers is the case Luca v. Moldova, which was examined by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and concerns parental responsibility and domestic violence. It was presented by lawyer Kyriaki Charalambous at the conference of the Pancyprian Association of Single Parent Families and Friends, on June 13, 2025 in Nicosia, clarifying that the ECtHR decision on this case was issued in October 2023.
The mother, identified as Luca, had repeatedly denounced psychological violence against her husband and the Family Court in Moldova initially rejected her request for protection, claiming that the case was pending and that her husband had not been convicted by a criminal court. Five whole years passed and the father and husband were finally convicted of domestic violence, but during this time, Luca had lost all contact and communication with her children!
Describing the development of this shocking story, Mrs. Charalambous said that at some stage before the father's final criminal conviction, the mother had managed to be issued in favour of the protection decree, which ordered the husband to leave the house. He moved to... neighbouring house and convinced the children to move with him, while claiming that the children did not want any communication with their mother... The ECtHR stated in its decision that the country's authorities did not take into account the woman's testimony about normal relations with her children before they moved in with their father, nor did they take into account the context of domestic violence and the protection decree that was still in force.
According to the ECtHR, the woman was essentially left to defend her right to maintain contact with her children, while the authorities did not show any awareness or sensitivity as to her vulnerable position, as a victim of domestic violence, who needed protection. In addition, the authorities downplayed the seriousness of her complaints, claiming that the case was just... "family misunderstandings" and that Luca did... "overly dramatic" allegations of violence.
The ECtHR ruled that these linguistic expressions of the authorities "appear to reflect stereotypes, prejudices and myths about women, who are often accused of abusing the system, which was created precisely to protect them from domestic violence." The ECtHR found in the case that the Moldovan authorities had violated Articles 3, 8 and 14 of the Convention on Human Rights and that Luca, as a woman, had been discriminated against by their refusal and negligence to help her. The European Court of Justice pointed out that "it is a common stereotype in cases of gender-based violence that insinuations are made against women, that they have ulterior motives when they invoke domestic violence"...
