The granting of rights and responsibilities to grandparents over grandchildren : an analysis of the current legal position in Malta

Abstract

While grandparents are endowed with few or no legal recognition, there are a number of grandparent providing care and raising their grandchildren. The legal recognition would be particularly important in order for the legislator to safeguard their role and relationship with their grandparents. Although grandparents may have an interest to sustain their relationship with their grandchildren, generally this interest is regarded to be of less value than the children’s and the parents’ interest to have a nuclear autonomy of their family. This research project highlights the role of grandparents whilst also provide a clear picture of the little rights and responsibilities which grandparents are endowed with particularly with regards to access, care and custodial rights, and maintenance. This exercise was done while contrasting grandparents’ rights and responsibility with other legal systems. Moreover, this study also analyses the various legal mechanisms which grandparents may use in certain special circumstance, in order to achieve some rights over their grandchildren. The best interest of the child as laid down in the Maltese Civil Code as well as the European Convention of Human Rights in relation to the grandparent’s rights of family and private life were also examined. Furthermore, the author also provides recommendations, which may be adopted in order to enhance the rights of grandparent over their grandchildren.