The parents, both German nationals, lived together and had a child in Germany. In 2014 the mother took the child to New Zealand without the consent of the father. In 2016 the father discovered that they were in New Zealand and made an application to the German Central Authority for the return of the child under the 1980 Hague Convention.
The Family Court, in 2017, and the High Court, in 2018, both held that the child was settled in New Zealand and that her opposition to return should be taken into account.
The father appealed to the Court of Appeal.
