High Court of Justice (England and Wales), Family Division

High Court of Justice (England and Wales), Family Division

United Kingdom - England and Wales

21 December 2021

Re A (A Child)

[2021] EWHC 3467 (Fam)

First instance

Article 7

Article 11

Not provided

A (A Child) (Abduction: Jurisdiction: 1996 Hague Convention) [2021] EWHC 581 (Fam)

The father wrongfully abducted his 20-month-old daughter from England and Wales to Switzerland by private aircraft without the mother's knowledge or consent. The mother's application under the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention was refused by the Swiss courts on the basis of Article 13(1)(b). The father subsequently sought to transfer the English proceedings to Switzerland under the 1996 Hague Child Protection Convention. That application was dismissed by Arbuthnot J because jurisdiction under Article 7 remained with England and Wales and the statutory conditions for transfer were not satisfied. At the final welfare hearing, Hayden J reaffirmed the importance of the Article 7 jurisdictional scheme, criticised the delay caused by the father's transfer application, and held that the child's welfare required her return to the mother's care in England and Wales.

Following the father's wrongful removal of the child from England and Wales to Switzerland, the High Court held that jurisdiction remained with the English courts under Article 7 of the 1996 Hague Child Protection Convention. The father's application to transfer the proceedings to Switzerland had previously been dismissed because proceedings founded on Article 7 jurisdiction could not be transferred, the Swiss courts were not better placed to determine the child's welfare, and transfer would not be in the child's best interests. Following a fact-finding and welfare hearing, the court ordered that the child should be returned to the mother's care in England and Wales.

Not provided