High Court rejects French woman’s extradition over child abduction allegation

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

The High Court rejected France’s request to extradite an unnamed French woman on 26 July 2016. Ms Justice Aileen Donnelly refused her surrender, and the woman was discharged.

French authorities said she was wanted for child abduction and for failing to deliver her son to his father, who was entitled to joint custody. The woman cannot be named for legal reasons. Her son was 17 when the proceedings were reported.

The court previously heard that she flew to Ireland with her son, then aged 16, one day after she was due to hand him over to her ex-husband. She said she feared that returning him to his father could lead to him being placed in a psychiatric institution and becoming institutionalised for life.

During earlier hearings, Vincent Heneghan BL, counsel for the Minister for Justice, argued that the French child abduction charge corresponded to false imprisonment in Ireland.

Michael Lynn SC, representing the woman, argued that the boy came willingly and was not forced. He said the boy’s autism did not mean he was incapable of deciding for himself, and no evidence had been heard to contradict that. He also argued that, at 17, the boy was considered capable of making his own decisions under Irish law.

Ms Justice Aileen Donnelly found that the facts in the European Arrest Warrant and the case did not demonstrate a lack of consent on the boy’s part. She therefore found no correspondence between child abduction and false imprisonment. The report also said the case was listed for mention again on Thursday morning.