The proceedings related to a child, a boy, who was aged 12 at the date of the alleged wrongful removal. He was born in Sweden and lived there for the first two years of his life. His parents’ marriage then ended and the mother took him to Israel. The child spent summer vacations with the father in Sweden. In 1999 the mother committed suicide and the child was cared for by the maternal grandparents.
The father subsequently initiated custody proceedings and on 5 May 2001 he was granted care of the child and allowed to take him to Sweden. The grandparents appealed and this led to a settlement between the parties which was approved by the Tel-Aviv District Court on 9 September 2001.
Under the agreement the father was granted temporary custody of the child for a year, at the end of which a decision was to be made concerning permanent custody. It was also decided that international jurisdiction with regard to the child’s custody would remain with the Israeli courts.
The father did not return the child to Israel in the summer of 2002. On 27 February 2003 the District Court granted the grandparents custody and ordered that the minor be returned to Israel at the end of the current school year. With the cooperation of the child, the grandparents brought their grandson to Israel on 4 June 2003, a week before the Swedish school year ended on 11 June.
On 17 August the plaintiff submitted an application under the Hague Child Abduction Convention for the return of the child to Sweden.
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