The chief judge of the Court of Violence against Women number 2 of Granada has decided to recuse herself from the case in which Juana Rivas asks that her son stay in Spain with her. That is, the magistrate considers that it is not a matter of her jurisdiction, refuses to rule on the precautionary measures – whether the minor should return to Italy with his father or remain with his mother in Spain – and returns the case to the investigating court. For now, and until there is a final ruling from a court, the minor will remain with his mother. This was ordered by a judge on duty last Tuesday after listening to Rivas’s son. The judge gave credibility to the ten-year-old’s testimony about his fear of returning to his father, who is being investigated in Italy for mistreatment of his children.
Since Rivas’s son arrived in Spain on December 22 to spend the Christmas holidays with her and her brother, there have been a succession of petitions and judicial resolutions. Juana Rivas’s objective has been for the minor to stay in Spain beyond the holidays until the Italian justice system resolves, on the one hand, the investigation against the father, Francesco Arcuri, for a crime of abuse against his children and, on the other hand, another, the conflict over the final custody of the child.
On January 6, an Italian court rejected the possibility of the minor staying in Spain, despite the accusation by the Prosecutor’s Office of that country against Arcuri. Then began the journey of Juana Rivas’s legal team to try to get the Spanish justice system to stop the minor’s return to Italy. Finally, after several courts passed the buck and the Prosecutor’s Office insisted on the need for justice to urgently listen to the child and make a decision, a judge on duty summoned the child to hear his testimony and ordered him to remain in Spain. .
But that decision was just that, an urgent decision. The Court of Violence Against Women number 2 had the ball in its court and this Thursday it issued two orders: in them it insists (it already did so in another writing in December) that it is not a matter of its jurisdiction as it did not see sufficient indications of gender violence and urges, however, that proceedings be opened to investigate a possible crime of domestic violence against Juana Rivas’s son, yes, in another court. By not considering the matter within its jurisdiction, it does not rule on the precautionary measures imposed on the minor – his permanence in Spain – and forwards the matter to an investigating court that at the time also did not consider that the case belonged to it.
The ball returns, therefore, to that court of investigation. While the conflict of jurisdiction is resolved and until a court makes a final decision, Juana Rivas’s little son will remain in Spain. This is how he established it in extremis the judge on duty on January 7, just a few hours before Juana Rivas’s little son’s plane left for Italy. The magistrate listened to the child’s story (it was the first time that a court summoned the minor) and decided that he should stay with his mother. He did so after the Prosecutor’s Office asked that the child be heard and a decision be made urgently. The Ministry of Youth and Children of Sira Rego also demanded that the justice system take into account the minor’s story and act urgently.
After hearing the judge’s rulings this Friday, the Ministry of Equality has indicated that the best interests of the minor must prevail. “With respect for the independence of the Judiciary and judicial procedures, the Ministry recalls that both the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention Istanbul include the obligation of the Spanish State to protect and protect minors and act with due diligence,” Ana Redondo’s department said in a statement.
Eight years of litigation
The new orders from the chief judge of the Court of Violence against Women number 2 of Granada, Aurora Angulo, add to a long legal battle that has lasted more than eight years. It was the same judge, Aurora Angulo, who in 2016 filed Rivas’s first complaint in Spain for gender violence after fleeing the home she shared with Arcuri and her two children in Carloforte (Italy). On that occasion, the complaint, which Rivas filed taking advantage of a vacation with the children in Spain agreed upon with the father, ended up being archived because the magistrate also did not appreciate that he had the authority to do so since he was an Italian citizen and the events occurred in the transalpine country. The judge took a year to send the complaint to the Italian justice system.
By then, the courts had already ordered Rivas to hand over the children to their father. The woman disappeared with them for a month to avoid complying with the decision, something that earned her a prison sentence and deprivation of parental rights in 2018 for child abduction. She was finally released after a reduced sentence and a partial pardon, and the case has generated a public debate about the rights of mothers in situations of violence and the protection of minors.
Now, the Italian justice decides on the custody of Juana Rivas’s youngest son, Daniel, given that the eldest, Gabriel, has already lived with her since June 2022 by his own decision upon reaching the age of majority. Just a month ago, the minor testified before the Cagliari Court in a hearing that is part of the procedure regarding his custody, which currently falls to Francesco Arcuri. On the other hand, the Italian Prosecutor’s Office appreciates the father’s mistreatment and is investigating him for it.
Protective measures
At that court appearance, Daniel spoke of episodes of abuse by his father, which has led Rivas’s lawyers to request urgent protection measures. According to what they have reported, the minor has been a victim of “manipulation, intimidation and threats” to make him modify his testimony. What’s more, Gabriel, his older brother, also wrote a letter and published a video in which he recounted similar episodes that he would also have been a victim of when he lived with his father.
Rivas’s lawyers insist that the complaints presented by Juana are serious enough for measures to be taken in Spain, arguing that it is a clear case of vicarious violence, where the abuser uses the children as a tool of control and harm towards the mother However, the Violence against Women judge has recused herself, pointing out that she does not see “sufficient indications” of gender violence and asking to initiate proceedings for a possible crime of domestic violence in another court.
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