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- The father applied under the Child Abduction Custody Act 1985 for the summary return of the daughter to Italy pursuant to the 1980 Hague Convention. The mother had removed her to England in February 2021. The mother accepted that the child's views on return were ambivalent. Her defence thus focused on the issues of consent/acquiescence under Article 13(a) and grave risk/intolerability under Article 13(b). She claimed that moving to England had been the father's suggestion, to lessen the child's exposure to racist abuse. The father said that he had not agreed to a relocation in the months and days leading up to the trip to England in July 2020, and that even if he had it did not subsist many months later. Mr Teertha Gupta QC queried why the mother had left in a clandestine fashion, if the father had consented to the move. For that and several other reasons he came to the firm conclusion that the consent defence had simply not been made out. Similarly, the defence under Article 13(b) had not been made out. He found it highly unlikely that the mother would be separated from the daughter if she chose to go with her. Thus he ordered the summary return of the child to Italy. Judgment, 25/10/2021, free
- The Latvian father made a Hague Convention 1980 application for the summary return of the two children, aged 14 and 12. The mother alleged that the father had orally agreed to the children remaining in England after she brought them there. The mother's defences were settlement under Article 12; children's objections under Article 13; consent and acquiescence under Article 13(a); and grave risk of harm and intolerability under Article 13(b). She succeeded on the first two and thus it was not necessary for the third and fourth to be considered. In Mostyn J's judgment, the physical and mental constituents of the concept of settlement had been very amply proved in this case, and the children's objections to a return were rational, reasonable and logical. He exercised the discretion granted to him under articles 12 and 13 of the Convention against a return of the children to Latvia. He commented that "many of these outward return cases under the Hague 1980 Convention have become disproportionately complex, lengthy and expensive". He urged the court to strictly apply paragraph 3.8 of the Practice Guidance: Case Management and Mediation of International Child Abduction Proceedings (issued by Sir James Munby P on 13 March 2018), and allow oral evidence only where it was "demanded" to resolve the case justly, not "merely reasonable or desirable". As to an ex parte location order made by the father, it was Mostyn J's view that "the time has surely come to insist that the standards in the Practice Guidance concerning ex parte applications are scrupulously observed", which they had not been in this case. Judgment, 25/10/2021, free
- The father had brought the four-year-old daughter from Georgia to England in July 2020, without notice to the mother, who now applied for the child's summary return. The remaining issues were: (1) whether the court was bound by the decisions of the Georgian courts; (2) if not, whether the child had been habitually resident in Georgia when removed by her father in 2020; and (3) what, if any, protective measures should be put in place. It was plain, said Sir Jonathan Cohen, that the court in Georgia had not ruled on the question which he was asked to determine, and thus he was not bound by their decisions. He found that on the relevant date the child had been habitually resident in Georgia, and thus he would order her return. Discussion between the parents would need to take place before a further hearing, at which he would determine the remaining practical issues. Judgment, 15/10/2021, free
- The father applied pursuant to the Hague Convention 1980 for the return of the three children (aged 5, 3 and 2) to Sweden, where they were habitually resident and had lived with the mother. The parents had shared joint custody, but the mother had removed them, without proper notification, to England, then Iraq, then back to England. The mother alleged domestic abuse during their marriage, and that the father and his family had previously abducted two of the children from her. She was described as having an abject fear of returning to Sweden, and the oldest son was said to share that fear. In Holman J's view, there was no doubt that she had abducted the children within the meaning and objects of the Hague Convention. If the father's alleged abduction of the children had been the trigger for removing the children, the circumstances and context of the case might have appeared markedly different, but following that incident she had been able to live with the children in Sweden for two years without molestation or interference from the father. None of her allegations came close to establishing an Article 13(b) defence. He ordered their return to Sweden forthwith, subject to various undertakings offered by the father. Judgment, 14/10/2021, free
- A final child arrangements order had been made, and the child was to live with his mother. The father breached the order, abducting the child for seven days. He told the court that he had been planning the abduction ever since the order was made. He had borrowed a car and a flat from a friend in preparation. Arbuthnot J found the level of culpability to be high, and the level of harm to be medium. The child had found the abduction traumatic. Finding him had required much press involvement, and it was difficult to anticipate what the effect of those stories would be on the child's development. There were several aggravating factors. Arbuthnot J committed the father to prison for four months, to be released after two months, subject to recall and probation. Judgment, 13/10/2021, free
Latest know-how
- The Court of Appeal was concerned with an appeal from a decision of Nicholas Cusworth QC (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge). By that decision Mr Cusworth QC had determined that the proceedings concerning the parties’ children were subject to the 1996 Hague Child Protection Convention (‘the 1996 Hague Convention’) for the purposes of the lis pendens provisions in article 13. Case note, 10/09/2021, free
- In this case MacDonald J (‘the judge’) dealt with an application for an injunction preventing the father (‘F’) from identifying the child (‘X’) as having been the subject of proceedings before the Family Court and from making derogatory comments in public against the Children’s Guardian (‘Guardian’). Case note, 19/08/2021, free
- This case concerned an appeal by a mother (‘M’) against an order of Arbuthnot J under the Hague Abduction Convention (‘the Convention’) for the summary return of her son, IG, to South Korea. The leading judgment was given by Baker LJ (‘the judge’), with whom Lewis and King LLJ agreed. Case note, 29/07/2021, free
- The Court was concerned with a case management appeal arising from an order made by HHJ Williscroft (‘the first instance judge’) in the Family Court at Derby in care proceedings. Case note, 17/06/2021, free
- Case note, 22/04/2021, free
Latest training
- Recording of webinar first broadcast on Thursday 2nd April 2020. Webcast, 03/04/2020, free
- Recording of webinar first broadcast on 9th October 2019. Webcast, 10/10/2019, free
- Recording of webinar first broadcast on 21st March 2019 Webcast, 26/03/2019, members only
- Recording of webinar first broadcast on 23 November 2018. Webcast, 29/11/2018, members only
- Roshi Amiraftabi of 29 Bedford Row, reviews the key private children law cases, themes and practice developments from the past 12 months. Webcast, 31/05/2018, members only
Latest sources
- The text of guidance requiring orders in non-financial cases to be drafted on the day of the hearing in the Central Family Court. In force from 12 November 2018 Practice direction, 23/11/2018, free
- Came into force on 23 July 2018 Practice direction, 27/07/2018, free
- Application for arbitration in children cases Form, 19/07/2016, free
- Tool (external), 27/03/2014, free
- Form (external), 01/04/2012, free