Judge criticized for denying divorce

Politicians and Muslim leaders condemned a German judge who cited cultural norms in turning down a Muslim woman seeking a fast-track divorce on grounds she was abused by her husband.

Judge Christa Datz-Winter said in a recommendation earlier this year that both partners came from a “Moroccan cultural environment in which it is not uncommon for a man to exert a right of corporal punishment over his wife,” according to the court.

The woman had been granted a restraining order. The judge was removed from the case, and the Frankfurt administrative court said it was considering disciplinary measures.