A mother of three children, who was pregnant with her fourth child, accompanied the father on a visit to Bangladesh. After their arrival the father announced his intention to remain there and refused to hand over the passports of the mother and children. As a result the fourth child was born in Bangladesh. The mother applied for his return to the UK
Held: Although the youngest child had been born in Bangladesh, she was habitually resident in the United Kingdom, because it was the habitual residence of her parents. The father’s unilateral decision not to return to the United Kingdom had not altered that fact.
To erect a positive rule that physical presence was a necessary prerequisite to establishing an habitual residence ran ‘counter to the proposition . . . that habitual residence is, or is primarily, an issue of fact and is not an artificial concept’.
Judges:
Charles J
Citations:
[2002] 1 FLR 388
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – A v A and another (Children) (Children: Habitual Residence) (Reunite International Child Abduction Centre intervening) SC 9-Sep-2013
Acquisition of Habitual Residence
Habitual residence can in principle be lost and another habitual residence acquired on the same day.
Held: The provisions giving the courts of a member state jurisdiction also apply where there is an alternative jurisdiction in a non-member . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Children
Updated: 09 May 2022; Ref: scu.588975