German father strikes a blow for single dads
 

"Dusty" wrote in message
...
German father strikes a blow for single dads
04/12/09 07:31 CET

An unmarried German man has struck a blow for fatherhood, winning a
landmark legal decision on his right to see his daughter. The European
Court of Human Rights ruled in favour of Horst Zaunegger, whose former
partner refused him access to their teenage daughter when the couple split
up and she moved away.

Under current German law, unmarried fathers can be refused access by the
mother. Zaunegger said: "For me this is clearly a violation of human
rights because, as an unmarried father, I'm being treated as a
second-class parent. There is no justification for that. I'm a responsible
father, I've proved this but I have no access to joint custody." Single
German fathers must pay child support, but can make no decisions and can
be prevented from seeing their children. Child custody is generally split
between married couples. The law has been under increasing pressure, and
in Berlin the justice minister called for a fundamental review of the
rights of unmarried fathers. Figures from 2008 show that every third
German child is born out of wedlock.
Copyright © 2009 euro news

Probably because the government people have decayed the significance of
legal "marriage" to the point that it is meaningless. In fact, being married
for a man amounts to him forfeiting his assets, automatically making him the
father of any ******* children of the woman, and jeopardizing his very
freedom! Gee, where's the nearest courthouse so I TOO can get
"married"........