Rejection of the complaint of the presumptive father against the order of a representative and paternity guardianship for an extramarital child

Facts

On January 30, 1982, M. [Z.] was born as the daughter of L. Z. [Y.] acknowledged paternity on March 3, 1982. After [Y.] had separated from L. [Z.] and entered into a marriage with another woman, he refused to fulfill his parental duties towards M. [Z.], in particular the provision of maintenance. L. [Z.] then turned to the guardianship authority of the city of Biel, so that it could clarify the paternal descent of the child in the interest of the child. On October 3, 1994, the guardianship authority ordered the establishment of a representative or paternity guardianship for M. [Z.] and instructed the guardian to file a claim on behalf of the child to contest the acknowledgment of paternity by [Y.] as well as a paternity claim against K.

[K.] filed a complaint against this decision with the district governor of the Biel district. He dismissed the complaint with a decision dated December 2, 1994. The Court of Appeal of the Canton of Bern did not enter into the complaint filed against this on December 13, 1994 with a decision dated January 13, 1995.

By appeal dated January 23, 1995, [K.] requested the Federal Court to set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal of the Canton of Bern and to remand the case to the lower instance for substantive consideration.

Considerations

The Federal Court dismissed the appeal. It decided that [K.] as the presumptive father cannot assert his own rights or the interests of the child in order to file a complaint against the order of the representative or paternity guardianship.

According to the case law of the Federal Court, the legal remedy of the guardianship complaint primarily serves to compel the guardianship authorities to act in accordance with the law and to safeguard the interests of those for whom they must act. Not only a third party who represents the ward's interests is entitled to file a complaint, but also the person who claims a violation of his own rights or is interested in the complaint itself.

However, the Federal Court found that the guardianship authority does…