Ad Hoc Central Authority of the Republic for South Africa and Another v Koch N.O and Another (2821/2021) [2021] ZAWCHC 53
Non-Convention Issues The application was not strictly brought under the Hague Convention but was clearly related to it and aimed to enforce the rights protected and granted under the Convention. The Court found they were obliged to consider the short-term interests of the child and held that it would be potentially detrimental to the child […]
G v G [2021] UKSC 9
The parents lived together in South Africa and had a child in 2012. The child had always been habitually resident in South Africa. The parents separated in 2014. The child lived with the mother but had regular contact with the father. The mother identifies as lesbian. She alleged that after separating from the respondent and […]
SS v MCP Case C 603/20 PPU
The parents, both Indian citizens, lived together in the United Kingdom but were not married. In 2017 they had a child who is a British citizen. The father was named on the birth certificate and has parental responsibility of the child. In October 2018 the mother went to India with the child. After several months, […]
M.P.S. C/ M.V.M.S. S/ RESTITUCI?N INTERNACIONAL DE MENORES DE EDAD
The child, a 3-year-old girl at the date of the decision, was born in Mexico. She lived with her parents, who had gotten married under the separation of property regime in Puerto Aventuras, Quintana Roo. On 6 December 2019, the mother reported the father for domestic violence before a Prosecution Office in Playa del Carmen, […]
A (A Child) [2021] EWCA Civ 194
Procedural Matters There was no need to for the child to be joined as a party to proceedings as the CAFCASS officer had appropriate skills to make his voice heard. Furthermore, it was clear that the mother had placed emotional pressure on the child and so his instructions to the legal team may not represent […]
DEFENSOR??A DE POBRES Y AUSENTES NRO. 1 s/ RESTITUCI?N – RESTITUCI?N INTERNACIONAL DE MENOR
The case is about a seven-year-old girl born in the city of Arica, Republic of Chile, where she lived with her mother, of Argentine nationality, and her father, of Chilean nationality. After the parents decided to end their marriage, the father chose to stay in Arica, and the mother went back to the city of […]
DW v MB – [2020] JMSC Civ 230
The parents had a child, born in 2017 in Maryland, USA. They married in 2018 and lived in Florida, USA, until June 2019 when the mother and the child travelled to Jamaica. In October 2019 the father filed an application under the 1980 Hague Convention for the return of the child to the USA. The […]
Simpson v Hamilton [2019] NZCA 579
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 […]
Sieger & Department of Communities and Justice [2020] FamCAFC 172
Grave Risk – Art. 13(1)(b) The 1980 Convention states that a court may refuse to order the return of the child if it would ‘expose the child to physical or psychological harm’. The difference between a grave risk of exposure to harm and a grave risk of suffering harm may be important, because the former […]
Bakker v. Bakker [2020] BCSC 1620
Removal and Retention – Arts 3 and 12 After applying an objective test the court found that an agreement was made between the parties to return the child to New Zealand in July 2020. The Court came to no firm conclusion as to whether the father’s consent was invalidated as it was based on false […]