The proceedings related to children born in Slovakia in 1996 and 1997. The parents, who had married in 1994, separated in 2002. Thereafter a district court in Slovakia ordered first that the children should reside with the mother, and subsequently that the father should have overnight contact.
Difficulties with the exercise of contact led to a series of legal proceedings in Slovakia, with the mother first being fined and then receiving a suspended prison sentence. Prior to the dismissal of her appeal against the latter sentence, the mother removed the children to Northern Ireland.
The father petitioned for the return of the children. The Family Division of the High Court rejected the mother’s submissions under the exceptions of Article 13 of the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention, and ordered the return of the children. The mother appealed.
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