Latest updates
- The father was HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, Ruler of the Emirate of Dubai and Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates. The mother was Princess Haya bint Al Hussein, a daughter of the late King Hussein of Jordan. The two children had come to this country with their mother in 2019, and arrangements for contact with the father were being considered. Upon the application of a number of media organisations, the President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane, had decided that three judgments in the case should be made public. These included findings of fact that the father had on three occasions ordered and orchestrated the unlawful abduction and forcible return of two of his other children, involving on one occasion an assault at sea by armed commandos. The father had not appealed against the fact-finding judgment, but appealed against the President's decision to lift reporting restrictions. The Court of Appeal (Underhill, Bean and King LJJ) dismissed the appeal. Judgment, 06/03/2020, free
- The mother having removed the daughter from Australia and gone to ground in the Outer Hebrides, MacDonald J ruled that it was a blatant and premeditated act of child abduction. He found that her evidence showed a marked tendency towards hyperbole and exaggeration, and she had not succeeded in bringing the case within the exception in Art 13(b) of the Hague Convention 1980. He ordered the summary return of the child to the father. The court had previously allowed publicity of the case to assist in locating the child, and so he did not require this judgment to be published in an anonymised form. Judgment, 28/05/2019, free
- The President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane, has released draft guidance for consultation on reporting in the Family Courts. News, 09/05/2019, free
- Applications were made to redact a previous judgment concerning international child abduction, on the basis that criminal charges might be brought. Mostyn J said that such redactions would rob the judgment of the coercive effect that it was designed to achieve, and no decision to charge had yet been made. The applications were rejected. Judgment, 29/04/2019, free
- The mother took the children to Ukraine on an agreed holiday and did not return them. The father sought an order that would permit certain information about the case to be publicised. Mostyn J decided that the mother, her new husband and her father (a former Vice-President of Ukraine) could be named and their photographs published. Judgment, 23/04/2019, free
Latest know-how
- In a tweet: Names of the respondents made public in an attempt to shame them into returning children who had been removed from the jurisdiction in breach of a shared live with order. Case note, 04/11/2019, members only
- Application for a reporting restriction order on the previous financial remedy proceedings. Case note, 06/08/2018, members only
- In a tweet: FR judgment was to be published un-anonymised where H's conduct had been dishonest Case note, 11/04/2018, members only
- High Court prevents W from making public bare terms of her open financial offer to H Case note, 19/01/2018, members only
- In a tweet: High profile footballer successfully obtains unopposed reporting restriction order Case note, 11/05/2017, members only
Latest training
- Webcast, 05/11/2012, members only
Latest sources
- Use this form to ask the President of the Family Division to authorise individuals working for the named charity to attend and report on family proceedings. Form (external), 01/10/2018, free
- Use this form if you have authority to attend and report on a family proceedings hearing. A form is needed for each hearing you attend. Form (external), 01/10/2018, free