Friday, July 25, 2008

Dad...... you're overruled!

In Quebec, a father tried to discipline his daughter by not allowing her to attend a school trip celebrating 'graduation from elementary school', after she disobeyed his rules about risky internet behaviour. The daughter ran to live with her mother and a court overruled the father, who has sole custody, saying the punishment was too severe.

A Quebec family lawyer said about the case that in Quebec, no matter who has custody, there exists joint parental authority. Both parents have to agree on issues of discipline and if they don't, the issue is resolved in court. Of course, while this serves to protect the child, a parent with a bone to pick with the other parent with custody can always side with the child just to spite the other parent. This is unfortunate, because the parent with custody has to live with the child and any ramifications of legal interference. This could set an interesting precedent for future cases.

This is all water under the bridge of course, but back in the day I too was prevented from attending my prom as a form of punishment (I was a bit of a rebel as a teen). Had I known the courts might have sided with me on this one............. ; D

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