by María Dolores López Muelas (Murcia, 1965) knows the Family jurisdiction inside out, to which she has served for more than three decades. With her own office in the center of Murcia, this professional, passionate about international law, is experienced in divorces, inheritances and abductions. … juvenile. She was founder of the International Association of Family Law Jurists (Aijudefa), which she chaired. She has now just taken on the challenge of placing herself at the head of the national association of family lawyers (Aeafa), which brings together thousands of lawyers and fights to promote and improve this specialty, which sets the course for so many families.
–It has been about a month since you assumed the presidency of the association. What challenges do you have on the table?
–Of course continue with the great work that Aeafa has carried out, to date, in defense of family law in Spain. We have demanded for years that a specialized jurisdiction be created, so that any citizen, regardless of where they lived, would have the right to the same specialized judge, a specialized prosecutor… Expert courts in family, childhood and capacity law.
–Aren’t there already specialized family courts?
–The issue is that in many capitals there are family courts. There is a court where there is a judge who handles only family law cases. The fundamental problem is that this occurs within the judicial district of Murcia, but all those towns that are not within it do not have that specialized judge.
SEPARATIONS
«There is an age at which the main cause of divorce is the greater assumption of responsibilities»
–It falls on mixed courts.
–They go to mixed courts, which means they have a very important workload. They are judges who do not only deal with these matters of family law, but with any type of topic. What we ask is that all legal operators be specialized, even civil servants; that there be more psychosocial cabinets, so that the procedures do not drag on forever and that everyone has the right to the same type of judge. The family process is the most important process that a person has to face throughout their life, more than a process for a claim for an amount or a commercial or labor process. We are talking about children, couples, pensions, fundamental rights… We understand that it is so important for your lives because they can change radically. In fact, there are also many cases of suicide after unjust judicial decisions.
–The courts of the Region also have the longest response times in the entire country. How does this delay affect families?
–It greatly affects families because it can take months, even a year, for urgent provisional measures that are requested in a situation of extreme need for children who need child support or a parent who does not see their children. Coexistence lasts forever in the family home because no one can leave until a provisional judicial resolution is issued and that generates violence and brings many cases of abuse. When a couple has already broken up, for a year that coexistence can be truly deadly. And then the last ones to suffer from it are the minors.
–He has been practicing in this field for decades and divorces, we see, do not stop increasing. What do you think are the main causes that lead to breakups? What role does the lack of co-responsibility at home play in caring for children?
–It depends a lot on age. There is an age group in which the causes can be, precisely, lack of respect or when children are born, that there is a bankruptcy in the couple. It is true that, when that couple goes bankrupt and breaks up, it is often due to the birth of children, not assuming responsibilities for the children or others. There is an age group that may precisely be the cause: the greater assumption of responsibilities. It is true that the economic issue also influences. We have advanced because women have become very independent and almost all women now work. Women have now also changed in the sense of demanding more responsibility from parents and fathers have also changed, assuming more responsibility, although it is true that we have not yet achieved absolute equality. Women continue to be the ones who give up their professional promotion the most to care for children. Then there is another age group, on the subject of divorces, and that is when the children have grown up. They are completely different breakups. We are not going to kill ourselves in court to fight for that custody.
‘TRANS LAW’
«There is a kind of black hole through which many frauds can escape»
–Kill yourself in court. Aren’t we evolving towards more civilized ruptures, with more agreements?
–Yes, it is true that there is an increase in agreements. Many of them have already spoken among themselves, very civilized, but there is also a lot of litigation. They do not agree on custody, they do not agree on pensions… This entails a series of very important property consequences which could be, for example, the use of the family home. The truth is that we have to deal with real battles for the use of the home because there is someone who has to leave. Logically, the financial burden is very great because you have to pay half of the mortgage and rent a house. The rents are very high and they cannot find a home.
–Recently, following the case of an Asturian prisoner who has requested a sex change to avoid a procedure for gender violence, he has warned of the weaknesses of the ‘trans law’. Do you think we can find more cases of this type?
–Several cases are already occurring. They are denouncing the fact that the ‘trans law’ is being used to obtain benefits, not only to take advantage of positive discrimination, but also with the gender violence law. As it is very simple, we find some attempts by people who have been convicted of gender violence and who try to evade the violence law or the specific gender violence courts by going to the Civil Registry to say that they feel like a woman. I have said it many times so that society does not believe that this is the case. They will not be able to avoid it because the sentence has not been served. Now, once the sentence has been served, if you are already considered a woman, you cannot go to the violence court. She has to go to another court and then the domestic violence law applies. They are different. If a violent act is committed by a woman against a woman, it would not go to the violence court. In this case, for example, protection orders that are given in violence would not be given. There are a number of circumstances that they are trying to take advantage of. It is true that there is a kind of black hole into which many frauds can escape.
–And what solution do you see for that?
–That guidelines be given. There is already an order from a judge in which the gender change has not been granted because fraud has been detected. If officials are given guidelines, mechanisms to detect this fraud, logically it would be much better. Perhaps it would be necessary to find out, for example, if there is a previous crime of violence, a psychological report… A filter.
