Case Law Search

Inter-American Convention on the International Return of Children

Return refused

Wrongful removal of three girls when they were 15, 10 and 7 years old - Paraguayan – married parents – Paraguayan father – Paraguayan mother – the girls lived in Paraguay until October 2018 – the return request was filed before the Paraguayan Central Authority – return refused – main issues: grave risk, human rights, procedural matters, best interest of the child – returned exposed the girls to a true risk of suffering psychological and physical harm, since they were victims of their father’s violence, as well as their mother was – return would amount to a violation of their dignity due to the violence exerted by their father – considering that the mother had returned to Paraguay, the maternal grandmother was given provisional care for a 90-day period until the girls returned to Paraguay with their mother

Grave Risk - Art. 13(1)(b) | Objections of the Child to a Return - Art. 13(2) | Procedural Matters

Case remitted to lower court

Child born in 2016 in Mexico – habitual residence in the United States of America – wrongful retention – Main issues: grave risk (Art. 13(1)(b)) – domestic violence – child’s objections to return – procedural matters – appeal allowed – case remitted to the court of first instance.

Non-Convention Issues | Grave Risk - Art. 13(1)(b)

Appeal allowed, return refused

The Court refused to order the return of the child until the mother's asylum application had been determined.

Grave Risk - Art. 13(1)(b) | Objections of the Child to a Return - Art. 13(2)

Return ordered

Two children wrongfully removed at ages 6 and 10  – Children were living with the grandmother in Portugal until the mother’s death and before their removal to the UK, grandmother had rights of custody – Children lived in Portugal until 21 July 2021  – Application for return filed with the Central Authority of Portugal on 13 September 2021  – Return ordered – Main issues: Article 13(1)(b), a return to Portugal would have an adverse psychological impact on the children but this would not create a grave risk - Child’s Objections, the elder child had a preference to remain in the United Kingdom but this did not amount to an objection within the meaning of Article 13(2). 

Grave Risk - Art. 13(1)(b) | Undertakings | Objections of the Child to a Return - Art. 13(2) | Non-Convention Issues

Return refused

Three children, 8-year-old boy (D), 6-year-old boy (Y) and 3-year-old girl (B), wrongfully removed - Parents divorced - Father national of Sudan - Mother national of Sudan - D and Y born in Egypt - B born in the Netherlands - Children subject to supervision order in the Netherlands, primarily cared for by the mother with the father allowed contact - Family lived in the Netherlands from 2020 until 2023 - Mother made serious allegations of domestic abuse against the father, including rape, beatings of her and the children, and a desire for B to undergo FGM - Mother wrongfully removed the children from the Netherlands on 6 or 7 July 2023, travelling by small boat to the UK - Father filed application for return with the High Court of England and Wales on 13 June 2024 - Return refused - Main issues: Article 13(b) - Domestic abuse allegations so severe that the risk of return was grave - Undertakings offered by the father were inadequate to be sufficient protective measures - D and Y opposed return but this did not constitute an objection for Article 13 purposes.

Objections of the Child to a Return - Art. 13(2) | Grave Risk - Art. 13(1)(b) | Aims of the Convention - Preamble, Arts 1 and 2

Return ordered

Return ordered. The children’s objections and Article 13(1)(b) exceptions to return were not established. Any welfare issues must be resolved by the home court in the Republic of Ireland. 

Objections of the Child to a Return - Art. 13(2) | Procedural Matters

Appeal allowed and case remitted to a different judge of the Family Division of the High Court for re-hearing; the trial judge had erred in the manner in which she had approached her interview with the child, for she had engaged in evidence gathering and then relied upon that evidence in ordering the return of the child.

European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) | Procedural Matters

Removal and Retention - Arts 3 and 12 | Consent - Art. 13(1)(a) | Acquiescence - Art. 13(1)(a) | Grave Risk - Art. 13(1)(b) | Objections of the Child to a Return - Art. 13(2) | Procedural Matters

Appeal dismissed, return ordered

Removal and Retention - Arts 3 and 12 | Rights of Custody - Art. 3 | Consent - Art. 13(1)(a) | Acquiescence - Art. 13(1)(a) | Objections of the Child to a Return - Art. 13(2)

Appeal dismissed, return ordered

Appeal dismissed and non-return order upheld; the retention of the children was wrongful but the applicant father was found to have both consented to and acquiesced in the children remaining in New Zealand.

Rights of Custody - Art. 3 | Objections of the Child to a Return - Art. 13(2) | Procedural Matters

Appeal dismissed, return ordered

Habitual Residence - Art. 3 | Rights of Custody - Art. 3 | Acquiescence - Art. 13(1)(a) | Grave Risk - Art. 13(1)(b) | Objections of the Child to a Return - Art. 13(2)

Return ordered

Retention wrongful and return ordered; none of the exceptions had been established.

Objections of the Child to a Return - Art. 13(2)

Appeal allowed, return refused

Appeal allowed and return refused; the standard required under Article 13(2) had been met.

Grave Risk - Art. 13(1)(b) | Objections of the Child to a Return - Art. 13(2)

Return ordered with undertakings offered

Return ordered; the standard required under Articles 13(1)(b) and 13(2) had not been met.

Rights of Custody - Art. 3 | Undertakings | Objections of the Child to a Return - Art. 13(2) | Procedural Matters

Return refused

Return refused; the High Court exercised its discretion under Article 13 not to order the return of the children; grave risk of an intolerable situation and objections of the elder child both being established.

Habitual Residence - Art. 3 | Objections of the Child to a Return - Art. 13(2) | Procedural Matters

Appeal allowed, return refused

Appeal allowed and return refused; the standard required under Article 13(2) had been met.

Objections of the Child to a Return - Art. 13(2)

Appeal dismissed, return ordered

Appeal dismissed and return ordered; the trial judge had been justified in finding that the standard required under 13(2) had not been met.

Undertakings | Objections of the Child to a Return - Art. 13(2)

Appeal dismissed, return refused

Appeal dismissed and return refused; the standard required under Article 13(2) to indicate that the objections of a child should be taken into account had been met.

Grave Risk - Art. 13(1)(b) | Undertakings | Objections of the Child to a Return - Art. 13(2) | Rights of Access - Art. 21

Subject to an undertaking, the child was to be sent to the United States for a two week period of contact with the father.

Aims of the Convention - Preamble, Arts 1 and 2 | Grave Risk - Art. 13(1)(b) | Objections of the Child to a Return - Art. 13(2)

Return refused

Return refused; the removal was wrongful, but, on the strength of the child's objection to a return to Germany, the court exercised its discretion under Article 13(2) not to send her back.