Sorrel & Cutten [2018] FamCA 291 was a Family Court case that highlights the way the use of OPCA terminology mimics mental illness and the issue of unacceptable risk, with a self-represented mother being “physically present but not agreeing to that fact”, refusing to identify herself as Ms Cutten but persistently requesting that she be referred to as “[Ms Cutten]”, and includes references to a “Cestui Que Vie Trust” and the papal encyclical of Pope Leo XIII. She considered herself only bound by the law of God Almighty and she rejected any entitlement to or citizenship of, the Commonwealth of Australia.
“The mother tendered a document signed by the Right Honourable Gough Whitlam in his capacity as Prime Minister of Australia at the time in 1973 recognising the Vatican as a country for the purposes of international relations. It seemed that the mother’s position was that such an adoption of the Papal See somehow or other incorporated the papal encyclical into the law of Australia.”
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