Family Court (England and Wales), sitting at the Royal Courts of Justice

Family Court (England and Wales), sitting at the Royal Courts of Justice

United Kingdom - England and Wales

23 May 2024

A and Others (Care Proceedings: 1996 Hague Convention: Habitual Residence)

[2024] EWFC 110 (Fam)

First instance

Article 5(1)

• Article 1
• Article 3
• Article 7
• Article 8
• Article 9
• Article 11

Children Act 1989, Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Act 2020, Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982, Parental Responsibility Measures for the Protection of Children (International Obligations) (England and Wales and Northern Ireland) Regulations 2010

Not provided

Care proceedings concerning four children who had lived in Austria before being removed by their father and brought to England in June 2023. The children had been living together in foster care in England for approximately ten months when the court determined jurisdiction. Applying Article 5 of the 1996 Hague Convention, the court conducted a detailed assessment of habitual residence and held that all four children had acquired habitual residence in England and Wales. Although their immigration status remained uncertain and their removal from Austria had disrupted longstanding family and social connections there, the stability of their foster placement, restoration of their life together as a sibling group, acquisition of English, school attendance, friendships and relationships with their carers demonstrated sufficient integration in a social and family environment. The court therefore had substantive jurisdiction under Article 5. The court also considered the interaction between proceedings under the 1996 Convention and the children's outstanding asylum claims, provisionally concluding that immigration and asylum law did not prevent the court from implementing a future welfare decision returning the children to Austria before determination of those claims. The question whether the children should in fact be returned to Austria was left for later determination.

The court held that the four children had acquired habitual residence in England and Wales and that the English court therefore had substantive jurisdiction under Article 5 of the 1996 Hague Convention. Interim care orders were made. The court did not determine at this hearing whether the children should be returned to Austria.