Italy steps into international adoption battle in U.K. after woman’s baby removed in forced c-section
Italy steps into international adoption battle in U.K. after woman’s baby removed in forced c-section
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Nick Squires, John Bingham, Claire Duffin, The Telegraph | December 6, 2013 | Last Updated: Dec 6 1:39 PM ET
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The mother’s lawyers and Italian politicians said Thursday they had not expected the development.
FacebookThe mother’s lawyers and Italian politicians said Thursday they had not expected the development.
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Italy has intervened in the legal dispute over the mother whose baby was forcibly delivered by Caesarean section on the secret orders of a British court.
Senior judges in London have been informed that the Rome government has instructed its own legal team and is considering taking part in a last-minute challenge to the adoption of Alessandra Pacchieri’s baby in Britain.
The mother’s lawyers and Italian politicians, who were demanding high-level action, said Thursday they had not expected the development, which was disclosed in a High Court hearing.
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Miss Pacchieri, who was declared mentally incompetent and gave birth in the summer of last year, believed the case was over and gave an impression of a confused legal process in which she was left in the dark.
Her lawyers have accused the British authorities of effectively misleading them about her options.
Details of the Italian involvement were disclosed by Alex Verdan QC, representing Essex county council at a hearing to discuss whether Miss Pacchieri could be named. The High Court refused the request on Wednesday for a ban on identification. Mr Verdan said: “I have been informed that solicitors in London have been instructed by the Italian state or government to intervene in proceedings.”
It is unbelievable that I have to learn this from an English journalist about something that my government is doing
Miss Pacchieri’s lawyer, Stefano Oliva, said he had updated the Italian authorities constantly but received no indication of action. “They appear not to have done anything,” he said.
Britain’s most senior family judge, Sir James Munby, the president of the High Court Family Division, intervened to take over the case this week, after it was exposed by The Sunday Telegraph. However, this came several months after Miss Pacchieri was told, according to her lawyer, that there was nothing else that she could do.
Politicians in Italy have pressed for an explanation from the foreign minister, Emma Bonino, about how much was known about the case. Maria Edera Spadoni, an MP, said she raised the issue but had no formal response. “It is unbelievable that I have to learn this from an English journalist about something that my government is doing.”
Miss Pacchieri, 35, who has a bipolar condition, came to Britain in mid June 2012 for a training course at Stansted airport when she suffered what she describes as a “panic attack” which led to her being sectioned under the country’s Mental Health Act.
Ten weeks later, the local health authority obtained an order enabling doctors to deliver the child by Caesarean section, while Essex county council began care proceedings that led to the baby girl being put up for adoption.
The case has thrown the spotlight on the Court of Protection, which sits behind closed doors but has the power to make significant decisions in the family justice system. Sir James has called for greater transparency around the court’s activities, but has also raised concerns that the drive to speed up adoption could be causing social services to cut corners when less “drastic” options are available.
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