M appealed against an order for the return of her child to Morocco. Both parents had dual Moroccan and UK citizenship. The child was born in the UK, but later lived with them in Morocco. The parents split, with M awarded custody in Morocco, but staying access for F. M returned to the UK with J, and now appealed from an order for his return made under the Court’s inherent jurisdcition.
Held: The mother’s appeal succeeded.
Black LJ stated that ‘When I gave permission, like the parties I was thinking in terms of whether the well known principles in In re J (A Child)(Custody Rights: Jurisdiction) [2006] 1 AC 80 would need modification in the light of the coming into force of the 1996 Hague Convention’. It however became clear to her that ‘the impact of the 1996 Hague Convention is far more radical’. Article 11(1) imports three conditions before a court ‘can exercise’ jurisdiction: ‘(i) The case is one of urgency, (ii) The child (or, where relevant, property belonging to the child) is present in the contracting state of the court in question; (iii) The steps the court is going to take are ‘necessary measures of protection”
Moore-Bick VP, Black, Gloster LJJ
[2015] EWCA Civ 329, [2015] 2 FLR 513, [2015] 3 WLR 747, [2015] WLR(D) 201, [2015] Fam Law 628
Bailii, WLRD
Hague Convention on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Co-operation in respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children 1996
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Re J (A Child), Re (Child returned abroad: Convention Rights); (Custody Rights: Jurisdiction) HL 16-Jun-2005
The parents had married under shariah law. They left the US to return to the father’s home country Saudi Arabia. They parted, and the mother brought their son to England against the father’s wishes and in breach of an agreement. The father sought . .
Cited by:
Appeal ffrom – In re J (A Child) SC 25-Nov-2015
The court considered for the first time the scope of the jurisdiction conferred by article 11 of the 1996 Convention ‘in all cases of urgency’ upon the Contracting State where a child is present but not habitually resident. F had obtained an order . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Children, International
Updated: 29 December 2021; Ref: scu.545618