The child, a boy, was approximately 7 at the date of the alleged wrongful removal. He had lived in Germany and Ireland. The parents were not married. Under a German court order the mother had custody, the father access.
In 1994 the mother moved from Germany to Ireland with the child. In July 1995 the child travelled to Germany for a period of holiday contact with his father. During this visit the father petitioned the local courts for custody.
The application was rejected and the court ordered the return of the boy to Ireland. The father did not comply with the order. In March 1996 the mother located father and child in Western Samoa.
On 29 January 1997 the Supreme Court of Western Samoa, sitting as a court of first instance, granted interim custody to the father and his wife. On 31 January the mother issued, inter alia, an application that the child be returned to Germany.
