The application concerned a child born in 2007 in Norway to an Australian mother and a Norwegian father. The parents had married in Australia in November 2006 and moved to Norway in December 2006. Except for holidays in Australia, this is where they lived until the child’s removal in November 2008.
The marriage was characterised by domestic violence. On 27 November 2008 the mother left Norway with the child without the father’s knowledge and travelled to Australia. The father applied for the return of the child on 19 March 2009.