TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday (Oct. 18) ordered a custody dispute between an Italian businessman and a Taiwanese woman over their 8-year-old daughter to be retried in a lower court.

Taiwan's Constitutional Court found that the Supreme Court acted unconstitutionally in not considering the wishes of a minor and sent the case back to the Supreme Court. In turn, the Supreme Court abandoned the case and sent it back to the Taipei District Court for a new ruling, reported CNA.

The case involved a Taiwanese woman surnamed Chan (詹) and an Italian man surnamed Lan (藍) fighting for the guardianship of their daughter. In the initial ruling, the Taipei District Court ruled that the girl must be handed over to Lan. In response, Chan refused to accept the ruling and filed an appeal, which was rejected by the Supreme Court in February of this year.

Chan then petitioned the Constitutional Court to rule on the constitutionality of the decision, which led to the case being sent back to the Supreme Court. The Constitutional Court stated that although the Supreme Court deemed its final ruling to be in the best interest of the minor, it still violated the Constitution's intention to protect the personal rights and human dignity of minors.

According to the Supreme Court, the Constitution stipulates that the state has a special duty to ensure the physical and mental health, as well as the personal growth of minors. Rather than basing a decision on a single factor, all favorable or unfavorable factors and their degree of influence on a minor in each specific case must be identified before a comprehensive ruling can be made.

In its initial ruling, the Taipei District Court established that Chan abducted the child and that Lan had filed for custody within one year. The court ruled that Chan must hand over custody of the child to Lan, who had planned to take her to Italy. A method for Chan to interact with her daughter was also arranged.

Chan makes a court appearance in March. (CNA photo)

However, because Chan failed to comply with the ruling and continued to file appeals, Lan was unable to take his daughter with him to Italy. In March, Lan accused Chan of hiding his daughter and not allowing him to come in contact with her.

He claimed that in order to avoid the court's ruling, Chan did not even let the girl go to school. Lan felt the situation was unfair because the court only listened to Chan. He also questioned the impartiality of the process, asking, "Is it because I'm Italian? Is that the reason? Are foreigners discriminated against in Taiwan?"

Following Chan's appeal, on Oct. 27, 2021, Taiwan's High Court made a ruling in the case. Because it had been more than a year, and the girl had not been able to get along with Lan, the court accepted the program supervisor's recommendation against the girl frequently changing places of residence. The second court decision did not consider whether the girl was accustomed to living in Taiwan or the possible psychological impact of forcing her to relocate to Italy.

In its latest ruling, the Supreme Court said that the state has the obligation to make decisions in the best interests of the child, noting that the girl is currently only 8 years old and her mental maturity is not equal to that of an adult.

It cautioned that if her wishes and opinions are affected by the emotions and words of the primary caregiver, she will be caught in the loyalty dilemma. The court said that this would inevitably lead anxiety.