Cour de cassation (France), Première chambre civile

Cour de cassation (France), Première chambre civile

France

10 July 2024

Mme [X] v M. [O]

No 23-22.272; ECLI:FR:CCASS:2024:C100333

Supreme / Highest Court

• Article 7
• Article 50

Article 4

Code de procédure civile

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The mother sought the return of her child from France to Switzerland following an alleged wrongful removal. After the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention ceased to apply because the child had reached the age of 16, she relied on the 1996 Hague Child Protection Convention as an independent basis for a return order. The Cour de cassation held that, while the 1996 Convention's provisions on jurisdiction, cooperation, recognition and enforcement may be used to facilitate the effective return of a child, none of its provisions creates an autonomous cause of action for return. The court therefore rejected the mother's claim and confirmed that the 1996 Convention does not replace the return mechanism established by the 1980 Convention.

Where the 1980 Hague Convention does not apply, the provisions of the 1996 Hague Convention may nevertheless be invoked to support or facilitate the effective return of a child to the Contracting State of the child’s habitual residence. However, the 1996 Hague Convention cannot serve as an autonomous legal basis for a return application in cases of wrongful removal. A return may therefore need to be pursued through other procedural routes, including proceedings concerning parental responsibility or custody.

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