The mother had brought the child to the UK wrongfully. She had hidden their identity for more than a year. Upon discovering her, the father came to England and began proceedings for the child’s return to the US.
Held: Because the child’s identity had been hidden, that period could not be counted as settled existence under the Act. The section must be given a broad and purposive construction. Despite the passing of the year, the court retained its discretion to order the return of the child to the US. In exercising its discretion, each case was dependent upon its own facts. ‘Concealment or subterfuge in themselves have many guises and degrees of turpitude. Abduction is itself a wrongful act, in that it breaches rights of custody, but the degree of wrong will vary from case to case. Furthermore abduction may also be a criminal offence in the jurisdiction where it occurred. The abductor may have been prosecuted, convicted, and even sentenced in absentia. There may be an international arrest warrant passed to Interpol to execute either in respect of a conviction and sentence. The abductor may have entered the jurisdiction of flight without right of entry or special leave. The abductor may therefore be, or may rapidly become, an illegal immigrant. ‘ and ‘The fugitive from justice is always alert for any sign that the pursuers are closing in and equally in a state of mental and physical readiness to move on before the approaching arrest. ‘ Such a period should not count.
Thorpe LJ said: ‘For the exercise of a discretion under the Hague Convention requires the court to have due regard to the [overriding] objectives of the Convention whilst acknowledging the importance of the child’s welfare (particularly in a case where the court has found settlement), whereas the consideration of the welfare of the child is paramount if the discretion is exercised in the context of our domestic law.’
Judges:
Thorpe LJ
Citations:
Times 28-Oct-2004, [2004] EWCA Civ 1330, [2005] 1 FLR 169, [2005] 1 WLR 32
Links:
Statutes:
Child Abduction and Custody Act 1985
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Re N (Minors) (Abduction) FD 2-Jan-1991
The court considered the degree of settlement that had to be proved under the Act: ‘The second question which has arisen is: what is the degree of settlement which has to be demonstrated? There is some force, I find, in the argument that legal . .
Appeal from – Re C (Abduction: Settlement) FD 28-May-2004
The mother had unlawfully and against the father’s wishes, brought the child to the UK from the US. She hid their identity and whereabouts for a year, and resisted the father’s request for his return to the US, saying the child was settled here.
Cited – Re M (Abduction: Acquiescence) FD 1996
After referring to the decisions in Re S and in Re N on the issue of whether a child had a settled residence: ‘It seems to me that any survey of the degree of settlement of the child must give weight to emotional and psychological settlement, as . .
Cited – M v M FD 8-Oct-1990
. .
Cited – Re C (Abduction: Interim Directions: Accommodation by Local Authority) FD 2004
The court delivered a judgment settling the extent of the court’s power to remove a child subject to an abduction application into Local Authority accommodation as an interim measure. . .
Cited – Re H, H v H (Child Abduction: Acquiescence) HL 10-Apr-1997
The mother and father were orthodox Jews. The mother brought the children to England from Israel against the father’s wishes. She said that he had acquiesced in their staying here by asking for them to be returned to Israel temporarily. The father . .
Cited – Re L (Abduction: Pending Criminal Proceedings) FD 1999
In a child abduction case, the court considered whether a child was settled within the UK if his whereabouts had been hidden: ‘The mother might or might not have demonstrated that the children were now settled in their new environment. The . .
Cited – Re H (Abduction: Child of Sixteen) FD 2000
The court considered the position as to whether a child was to be deemed to be settled after having been within the UK for a period of more than one year: ‘It is the case, looking at the relative dates, that these proceedings were commenced after . .
Cited – Soucie v Soucie 1995
After noting the approval of In re N in Perrin the court added: ‘Furthermore the question of settlement had to be considered in the context of the spirit of the Convention whereby the fundamental duty of the court is to order a return of the child . .
Cited – Perrin v Perrin IHCS 1994
. .
Cited – Puttick v Attorney General etc FD 1980
P, a former member of the Baader-Meinhof gang absconded while awaiting trial in Germany. She entered the UK using a passport which she had bought in the name of S, and married P under that name. The German authorities discovered her true identity . .
Cited by:
Cited – AF v M B-F FD 22-Feb-2008
The father sought the return of the two children to Poland after they had been brought to England by the mother. She said that she had come to seek work as a dentist, and had been unable to support the family in Poland. She said that her Polish . .
Cited – In re O (Children) CA 16-Feb-2011
The family had Nigerian nationality, but the father also had US nationality. After the split, M wanted to live with the children in Nigeria, and F wanted them with him in the US. On M’s visit to the UK from Nigeria with the children, the father . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Children, International
Updated: 15 July 2022; Ref: scu.216636