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.
Held: The court rejected the orthodoxy that the phrase ‘the child is now settled in its new environment’ imports far more than mere ostensible physical settlement, and also that a judicial finding of settlement only opens the gate to the exercise of a judicial discretion to order or refuse the child’s return to the jurisdiction from which it had been abducted.
A finding that the child was settled precluded the judge from ordering a return. where the second paragraph of article 12 applies, a finding that the children are now settled in their new environment takes the case outside the Hague Convention altogether.
Judges:
Singer J
Citations:
[2004] EWHC 1245 (Fam), [2005] 1 FLR 127
Links:
Statutes:
Child Abduction and Custody Act 1985 5
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Appeal from – Cannon v Cannon CA 19-Oct-2004
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 . .
Cited – Re M and another (Children) (Abduction; Rights of Custody) HL 5-Dec-2007
Three children had been brought from Zimbabwe by their mother against the wishes of the father and in breach of his rights there. The mother appealed an order for their return.
Held: The mother’s appeal was allowed. The House had to consider . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Children
Updated: 11 June 2022; Ref: scu.200010
