P was the child of now separated women. P was born in the UK but taken by one parent to Pakistan. The other parent now appealed from refusal of her request for the court to exercise its inherent jurisdiction or wardship to support her application for contact for contact with P. The court considered whether, having left with her mother who had a settled intention of remaining in Pakistan, CB would lose he habitual residence here upon so leaving.
Held: The appeal failed. Hogg J had been entitled to hold that on leaving the UK, B had lost her English habitual residence. Although the attenuation, or even the ultimate loss, of her relationship with the appellant would be a real detriment to B, the circumstances were not so exceptionally grave as to justify exercise of the inherent jurisdiction by reference to her nationality.
Although there was no direct evidence to substantiate the appellant’s asserted inability to present her case to the courts of Pakistan, the court surveyed general material about the attitude of society there to same-sex relationships. The issue of sexual relations between women was unexplored territory in law, there was in Pakistan pervasive societal and state discrimination, social stigma, harassment and violence against both gay men and lesbian women, together with a lack of effective protection by the state against the activities of non-state actors. The Court proceeded on the unchallenged basis that courts in Pakistan would be unlikely to recognise that the appellant had any relationship with B which would entitle her to relief and that therefore she would have no realistic opportunity to advance her claim there.
Sir James Munby P, Black, Vos LJJ
[2015] EWCA Civ 888, [2016] 2 WLR 487, [2015] WLR(D) 364, [2015] Fam Law 1339
Bailii, WLRD
Adoption and Children Act 2002
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – London Borough of Merton v LB FD 19-Dec-2014
The court considered applications in the case of a proposed adoption of a child LB. The mother, Latvian, and the Latvian authorities opposed the application, saying that the child’s future should be settled in Latvia. CB had been taken into care . .
See Also – LB v London Borough of Merton and Another CA 1-May-2013
. .
Cited by:
Cited – Re B (A Child) SC 3-Feb-2016
Habitual Residence of Child not lost
(Orse In re B (A Child) (Reunite International Child Abduction Centre intervening)) The Court considered the notion of habitual residence. The British girl with same sex parents had been taken to Pakistan, and her mother here sought her return. The . .
Cited – Re B (A Child) SC 3-Feb-2016
Habitual Residence of Child not lost
(Orse In re B (A Child) (Reunite International Child Abduction Centre intervening)) The Court considered the notion of habitual residence. The British girl with same sex parents had been taken to Pakistan, and her mother here sought her return. The . .
Cited – In Re N (Children) SC 13-Apr-2016
The Court considered whether the future of two little girls, aged four and two years, should be decided by the courts of this country or by the authorities in Hungary. Both children were born in England and lived all their lives here. But their . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Adoption, International
Updated: 03 January 2022; Ref: scu.551020
