High Court of Justice (Northern Ireland), Family Division

High Court of Justice (Northern Ireland), Family Division

United Kingdom - Northern Ireland

19 February 2021

A Father v A Mother

[2021] NIFam 5

First instance

Article 5(1)

Article 11

Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995, Family Law Act 1986, Child Abduction and Custody Act 1985

Not provided

This case involved a father residing in Australia who sought to re-establish direct and indirect contact with his children in Northern Ireland. The father invoked Article 21 of the 1980 Hague Convention and Article 5 of the 1996 Hague Convention. The court considered the appropriate jurisdictional and procedural framework, including whether the matter should be remitted to another court for a formal contact application under domestic law. Keegan J adopted a pragmatic approach, noting that the jurisdictional issue appeared to have arisen for the first time in Northern Ireland and that the procedural complexities were not of the father’s making.

The High Court held that the 1980 and 1996 Hague Conventions provided the jurisdictional framework for the father's application but did not themselves authorise the making of a contact order. Any substantive determination of contact had to proceed under domestic law, applying the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995. The court retained the proceedings, appointed the Official Solicitor for the children and directed further welfare enquiries.

Not provided