The application related to two children, both boys, who were aged 12 and almost 9 at the date of the alleged wrongful retention. The parents were divorced and had joint custody. The father had care of the boys and they lived with him in the United States.
In the summer of 2003 the boys went to Finland to stay with their mother. However at the end of the stay she refused to return them. On 13 October 2003 father filed a return application with the Helsinki Court of Appeal (the jurisdiction of first instance in child abduction cases).
On 14 April 2004 the application was rejected on the ground that the children objected to a return. The father appealed to the Supreme Court.
