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Mr Justice Quinn let fly. His 30-page judgment begins: 鈥淧aging Dr Freud, Paging Dr Freud鈥�. These people didn鈥檛 need a court, they needed a psychoanalyst. Sometimes, just sometimes, the judge, the arbitrator, the adjudicator gets a fraction exasperated with the warring parties. This Canadian High Court judge let it all out in the bitter family court dispute.

鈥淗ere鈥�, he said, 鈥渁 husband and wife have been marinating in a mutual hatred so intense as to surely amount to a personality disorder requiring treatment. The source of the difficulties is hatred: a hardened, harmful, high-octane hatred.鈥� I have seen all that in our building disputes.

Husband Larry and wife Catherine hate each other. This hatred has raged unabated since the date of separation. 鈥淐onsequently the likelihood of an amicable resolution is laughable (hatred devours reason) and a satisfactory legal solution is impossible (hatred has no legal remedy).鈥�

Larry and Catherine married in 1995 and had two children. Larry and Sam were close friends. Larry was best man at Sam鈥檚 wedding. A few years later Sam and his wife separated. Larry and Catherine also separated. Sam went to live with Catherine. Larry has a common law wife. The two households are located a mile apart.

THE JUDGE SAID 鈥楢 NAUTICAL THEME WAS ADDED鈥� WHEN LARRY DEPOSED THAT CATHERINE鈥橲 SISTER HAD SAID HE WAS 鈥楪OING TO BE FOUND FLOATING IN THE CANAL DEAD鈥�

Mr Justice Quinn said 鈥渋n the midst of this social stew perhaps it is not surprising Larry and Catherine are having serious problems regarding access to their children鈥� and added 鈥渋f only Larry and Catherine鈥檚 wedding guests who tinkled their wine glasses as encouragement for the traditional bussing of the bride and groom could see the couple now鈥�. In a footnote the judge added: 鈥淚 am prepared to certify a class action for the return of all wedding gifts.鈥�

In another footnote, the judge said: 鈥淎t one point in the trial, I asked Catherine: 鈥淚f you could push a button and make Larry disappear from the face of the earth, would you push it? Her 鈥業-just-won-a-lottery smile鈥� implied the answer that I expected.鈥�

It gets worse. The ex-husband, Larry, claimed he had been the subject of numerous death threats from Catherine and members of her family, including Catherine trying to run him over with her van. 鈥淭his is always a tell-tale sign that a husband and wife are drifting apart,鈥� the judge remarked dryly.

Later the judge said 鈥渁 nautical theme was added鈥� when Larry deposed that Catherine鈥檚 sister had said he was 鈥榞oing to be found floating in the canal dead鈥�. 鈥淎s can be seen, Catherine and her relatives are one-dimensional problem solvers.鈥�

THE RIDICULE OF THE JUDGE AROSE OUT OF A SENSE OF UTTER HOPELESSNESS THAT THE WARRING PARTIES WOULD COME TO THEIR SENSES

The judge also commented: 鈥淭he couple had a habit of making rude gestures towards each other and their new partners; and Larry created a Facebook page for Catherine on which he posted comments as if they had been authorised by her. His text messages called her a loser and home wrecker.

鈥淎ssessing credibility is not nearly as difficult as it was before the use of emails and text messages became prolific,鈥� said the judgment. That鈥檚 true even on building disputes.
Communications by more old-fashioned means also gives the game away. Larry, who regularly drove by the residence of Sam and Catherine, 鈥渙ften shoots the finger鈥� at Sam and on three occasions has yelled 鈥淛ackass, loser鈥�. Another footnote of Mr Justice Quinn said 鈥渁 finger is worth a thousand words and therefore is particularly useful should one have a vocabulary of less than a thousand words鈥�.

Giving no quarter, the judge scathingly described the father as utterly lacking in parenting skills and a mother who has utter disregard for the father鈥檚 parenting rights and who has brain-washed their daughter against her father.

Here is a judgment of a very respectable High Court where the ridicule of the judge arose out of a sense of utter hopelessness that the warring parties would come to their senses. Warring parties, whether in a sad family matter like this or disputes in building and civil engineering, see folk digging in beyond all expectations. The pocket is not the only part injured. Ask any judge, ask any psychoanalyst.

Tony Bingham is a barrister and arbitrator a 3 Paper 黑洞社区s, Temple