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- The mother applied for the summary return of three children from Wales, where they lived with the father, to the Republic of Ireland. A fourth child lived with the mother. During a period of homelessness, the mother had asked the father to care for the four children on a temporary basis in his home in Wales. Upon her finding accommodation, the father had declined to return them, and she had collected the youngest from his school and taken him back to Ireland. The court had to determine: the nature of the agreement between the parents; whether the father had wrongfully retained the children; whether the children had been habitually resident in the Republic of Ireland; whether an article 13 exception had been established; and, if it had, whether the court should exercise its discretion not to order the children's return. Nigel Poole QC, sitting as a deputy High Court judge, concluded that the evidence did not establish that the mother had secured suitable accommodation by the given time. He was not satisfied that the father was guilty of wrongful retention of the children at any point prior to the application being made, and so the Convention and Regulations could not assist the mother in her application for summary return. The children's time in Ireland had been chaotic and peripatetic; they remained habitually resident in the United Kingdom throughout. The defence under Article 13(b) was made out: they should not be expected to tolerate returning to Ireland without the reassurance of stability and security. Had he found that there had been a wrongful retention, he would have had no hesitation in exercising his discretion so as to refuse return. The mother's application for summary return was dismissed. Judgment, 24/06/2020, free
- The son had travelled to the United Kingdom with the mother for a three-month stay, with the father's consent. When they did not return the father made an application under the Hague Convention 1980. The mother relied upon the defence under Article 13(b), alleging domestic violence and drug use. It was agreed that the mother had retained the son here at a time when he was habitually resident in Australia and that this retention breached the father's custody rights. Theis J did not doubt that if the mother returned to the Australia with the child she would suffer emotional distress and mental anguish, but her pre-existing depressive and anxious tendencies would be a reality of her life wherever she was and could not be solely or mainly linked to a return to Australia. The issues raised did not, in Theis J's judgment, meet the threshold in Article 13(b). She was satisfied that the protective measures agreed would be able to mitigate any harm. She would order that the son should return to Australia, on a date to be fixed once current travel restrictions were lifted. Judgment, 21/06/2020, free
- An application under the Child Abduction and Custody Act 1985 and the Hague Convention 1980 for the eight-year-old daughter to be returned to Spain. The mother had brought the child to the United Kingdom without warning, and had refused to disclose their location. She asserted that there had been a history of domestic abuse. It was common ground that the removal was in breach of the father's rights of custody, and that the removal was from the child's country of habitual residence. The mother raised four defences: settlement under Article 12; grave risk of harm under Article 13(b); the child’s objections to return under Article 13; and breach of the daughter's human rights under Article 20. Mr Robert Peel QC was not convinced that the evidence demonstrated the physical stability, integration and permanence needed to establish the defence of settlement. The mother fell far short of establishing that there was a risk of harm to the child. The defence regarding the child's objections was abandoned by the end of the hearing, but would have also failed, as did the defence under Article 20. An order for the daughter's return would be made. Judgment, 19/06/2020, free
- The father applied under the Child Abduction and Custody Act 1985 for a summary return order pursuant to the provisions of the 1980 Hague Convention, in respect of two children, aged seven and four. The children were born in Belgium and had always lived there until being taken by both parents to Spain for six weeks, and then to England by the mother, in the company of a new acquaintance with multiple convictions. The move to Spain, it was suggested, had been to prevent the Belgian social care authorities from undertaking safeguarding interventions. However, the Belgian authorities informed the court that they would not be taking any active steps towards the return of the children to Belgium, and that in their view the children should be with the mother. The local authority had completed a parenting assessment of the mother which concluded that she was unable to care safely for the children. The father had been accused of domestic abuse, and though in England at the time had failed to attend assessment sessions due to drug use. The children were now in foster care, and in regular contact with the mother. MacDonald J found that the exception under Article 13(b) of the 1980 Convention was made out. There was no evidence before the court to confirm who would take custody of the children upon arrival in Belgium, what arrangements would be made for their care, or how contact with their mother would be facilitated. Ordering their return to Belgium would place them in an intolerable situation for the purposes of Article 13(b). The father's application was dismissed. Judgment, 14/06/2020, free
- The father applied for a summary inward return order in respect of a boy, one of three children, who was taken by the mother to both parents' native country of Sierra Leone and left there with her family. The mother cross-applied for an order permitting her retrospectively to relocate the boy. Mostyn J was also asked to make child arrangements orders regulating contact between the father and all three children. The father had not seen any of the children for three years. The mother alleged domestic abuse, and that the son had been involved in South London gang culture. The Cafcass officer recorded that the boy's emphatic wish was to remain in Sierra Leone until his education to GCSE level was complete. Mostyn J stated that the wishes of a Gillick-competent child on a particular issue, where they are not objectively foolish or unreasonable, should normally be given effect, and he was not satisfied that the child's wishes in this case were objectively foolish or unreasonable. The father's application for summary return was dismissed and the mother's application was granted. There would be supervised contact with the children, virtual at first, given the coronavirus, with the sessions recorded and the mother at liberty to stop them if the children became distressed. Mostyn J also commented on various procedural aspects of the case. Judgment, 18/05/2020, free
Latest know-how
- The judge made an order for a summary return to Poland in respect of a 12 year old and her 17 year old brother in what he described as “a hot pursuit case.” Case note, 04/11/2019, members only
- In a tweet: Local expert evidence key to securing temporary leave to remove a child to Brazil (a Hague Convention country with a poor reputation for compliance) for holidays. Case note, 04/11/2019, members only
- A mother’s appeal was dismissed in circumstances in which she had challenged a return order made in respect of the child. Case note, 04/11/2019, members only
- Successful application by a father to secure the return of the parties’ daughter to Latvia. Case note, 04/11/2019, members only
- In brief: A father’s application for further directions to assist in the implementation of a return order made in respect of the parties’ two children, who were to be returned from England to the US, was dismissed on the grounds that the court had no jurisdiction to entertain F’s application. Case note, 04/11/2019, members only
Latest training
- Recording of webinar first broadcast on 23 November 2018. Webcast, 29/11/2018, members only
- Tim Scott QC of 29 Bedford Row tries to make sense of what might happen to international family cases after 29th March next year and reviews a few recent key international finance cases. Recorded September 2018. Webcast, 07/10/2018, members only
- Tim Scott QC from 29 Bedford Row, provides an update to the Maintenance Regulation, 5 years after it came into force. This webcast was recorded on 1 September 2016. Webcast, 02/09/2016, members only
- Audio recording of webinar first broadcast live 26 April 2016 Webcast, 29/04/2016, free
- In this recorded webcast, Tim Scott QC from 29 Bedford Row summarises the main issues when dealing with cases involving financial claims in England following an overseas divorce. Webcast, 15/06/2015, members only
Latest sources
- An updated table of signatories and members states Tool, 02/03/2017, free
- Link to guidance on the Collaborative Family Law website Tool (external), 15/05/2012, free