Court intervention

Girl with no name for two years

A court has been forced to step in and choose the name of a two-year-old girl because her parents couldn't agree.

The little girl was yet to have her birth registered, with each parent calling her by a different name.

The Family Court of Australia recently decided the first name the mother chose should be used and ordered the girl be registered by that name. She has already been known by her father's surname.

The Victorian couple's relationship broke down before the girl was born.

Justice Colin Forrest was asked to rule on a name, as well as the amount of time the child and her brother spent with each of the parents.

"I am drawn to the conclusion that the father's opposition to the name (chosen by the mother) is yet another example of his determination to control the mother and her parenting of these two children," Justice Forrest said.

He said that if the child was known by two different names, it was likely she would become accustomed to that idiosyncrasy and learn to cope with it.

But, the judge said, it would be up to the girl to ultimately choose which name she preferred to be called.

Justice Forrest said the problem was the fact that the birth had not been registered and therefore court intervention was needed.

The court heard the mother offered a compromise of having the two names hyphenated, but the father vehemently opposed the suggestion.

The mother said she picked the girl's name because of the name's meaning and the way the toddler looked when she was born.

But the father claimed the name the mother picked was blasphemous in his Islamic faith and the hyphenated name suggested was as offensive to him as the name the mother had chosen alone.

Justice Forrest said an imam gave evidence that there was nothing about the name that was offensive to Islam. The imam told the court he did not know the meaning of the name the father had selected for the child and did not know whether or not it was offensive to Islam.

Justice Forrest said the child was generally known to the world by the name the mother chose and that name should be registered. He said he did not expect his orders would prevent the father and his family from calling the girl by the name he chose.

(Published by The Daily Telegraph - July 14, 2011)