Family reunification – failures and success
Marie-France Carlier, Judge of the Court of First Instance of Dinant.
Marie-France Carlier, Judge of the Court of First Instance of Dinant.
In Belgium, in case of loss of parent-child ties, the family judges will react quickly and take the case at the first hearing ( fixed within the 15 days), during which they try to obtain the parents' agreement to participate in an expertise based on parental collaboration. This expertise, created in 2010 by Benoit Van Dieren, a psychologist, and Myriam de Hemptinne, a magistrate at the Brussels Court of Appeal, is very successful and has spread throughout the country.
This expertise is dynamic and non-diagnostic, the aim is to restore the degraded bounds between one or more children and one of their parents. This expertise do not seek to determine whether there is parental alienation or not. It is crucial to avoid to consolidate this situation or to let the conflict rise, thus requiring a prompt intervention of the expert.
The success of such expertise is based on four conditions: the collaboration of both parents (supported by their lawyers), a coherent and adequate professional coordination between the judge, the expert, the lawyers, and any other involved professionals, the judge's impulsion and supervision, and the expert’s interim reports.
The expert's work involves restoring constructive and calm communication between parents to help them become again responsible co-parents focused on the best interests of their children. At the same time, the expert will work on possible relational difficulties between a child and one of their parents with the support of the close parent.