Judge wants Madonna, Ritchie to resolve son's custody issue

A high court judge has asked US pop star Madonna and her British ex-husband Guy Ritchie to amicably resolve the custody dispute between them over their 15-year-old son Rocco.

Justice MacDonald said on Monday that it would be a tragedy if any more of the “fast-receding days” of the teenager’s childhood were taken up by the dispute, reported the Guardian.

Madonna and Ritchie are fighting over where Rocco should live after the teenager stayed with his father in Britain after a visit whereas the singer wants him to return to the US.

The cases were filed in London and the US but MacDonald ruled that the English proceedings could be halted. More court hearings are expected to be held in New York.

“At the root of these proceedings... is a temporary breakdown in trust. For all the media coverage, comment and analysis, this is a case born out of circumstances that arise for countless separated parents the world over,” MacDonald said in his ruling.

“I renew, one final time, my plea for the parents to seek, and to find, an amicable resolution to the dispute between them,” he said. Madonna and Ritchie split in 2008 after eight years of marriage.