Princess of Asturias Award for dad who secured equal custody in Arab nation

Borja Brañanova has lived in the United Arab Emirates for 15 years and his children, Sebastián and Olaya, were born there five and three years ago respectively.

Their mother, who is South African, wanted sole custody once their divorce was finalised, but Borja wanted them to share the children's upbringing equally.

This has never yet been agreed in an Arab country, where custody always goes 100% to one parent or the other, meaning the verdict is a pioneer in the Northern and Southern Africa and Middle Eastern region, home to two billion people of whom the majority are practising Muslims – in fact, a quarter of the world's population follow the Islamic religion.

Women in the Arab world still take a back seat, so 'it had to be a man' who changed things concerning the rights of children to grow up equally with both parents after a divorce, said the Confederation for Children's Best Interests (CEMIN), which put forward Borja's name for the award.

The engineer from Asturias is not the only person to receive the Concordance prize – the whole team with whom he fought for his children's future will be granted it, including the Association for Human Rights in Spain, and international family lawyer Isabel Winkels, who argued the case that as shared custody is legal under Spanish law, it should also apply to a Spanish parent living abroad.

“Borja contacted me and, although it was a very complex issue, we found out that the national law of the UAE establishes that where both parties to a couple are of different nationalities, the legislation of the husband's country applies,” Isabel Winkels says.

“We worked closely with, and supported, the local solicitor working for Borja, but it was this local solicitor who fought the case and who needed to know Spanish law was applicable and for what reasons.”

Between them all, they managed to get two former Spanish Supreme Court magistrates – Xavier O'Callaghan and José Almagro – on board, both of whom are experienced in joint custody cases.

Isabel praises the 'brave' judges in Dubai who were willing to make the historic verdict, which now opens the door to equal custody across the Arab world.

Pilar Bueno of the Association for Human Rights says: “In Spain, it's recognised that shared custody, in principle, is a positive thing, and it should be applied to Spanish children wherever they are in the world, because children's rights cannot have borders.”

“Just being among the candidates for the Princess of Asturias Award means this case has been recognised as ground-breaking,” says Isabel Winkels.

“And it could contribute to normalising situations for foreigners in many countries where family court verdicts are based upon legislation that is, in cultural and religious terms, very different from our own.”

CEMIN says Borja's achievement needed to be given 'visibility', so that 'in later, similar cases' court verdicts in different countries would 'respect international laws and human rights' and 'put the child's interests first'.

According to CEMIN, other parents in the Arab world have already contacted them now asking for help in fighting for equal custody, as well as Spanish parents in other countries where shared child upbringing is not recognised.

Chairman Gerardo Rodríguez-Acosta says: “You don't have to go to Arab countries to find international treaties not complied with and judges who allow it. In Europe, for example, there are some countries which are very cooperative and others which are not, which are very protective of their national legislation. Even the USA.”

He says CEMIN is working on convincing the EU to streamline laws across the bloc to ensure different courts and countries are singing from the same hymn sheet when it comes to child custody.

Borja, however, will not be able to travel to Spain with his children to collect his award in November, since their mother has been filing for a ban on his leaving the UAE with them as part of their divorce settlement.

Until this and the divorce is resolved, the children will not be able to travel to Spain to meet the other half of their family, although they have already been to South Africa with their mother twice.

Even though the legal system in the UAE, as in the rest of the Arab world, is 'very partial' in divorce and custody cases, Borja says, he 'has great confidence' in the city of Dubai since, in his 15 years there, he has 'noticed a leadership very much geared towards logical evolution'.

“In such a reduced geographical area, where foreign settlement is actively encouraged, it's clear equal custody would improve quality of life for many parents and children affected by verdicts giving full custody to one parent or another with a régime of restricted, regularly interrupted and insufficient visits,” Borja says.

“I've always wanted my children to grow up with regular contact with all their cultures and both sides of the family, and to have equal amounts of time and input from both parents.”