The High Court has ordered the return of a 12-year-old child to England and Wales under the Hague Convention, after declaring that she had been wrongfully removed from that jurisdiction. The judgment was delivered by Ms Justice Bronagh O’Hanlon on 13 December 2016.
The application was brought by the child’s father, identified in the judgment as L.M.E., against the child’s mother, S.A.L.K. London Borough of Havering was a notice party. The father alleged that the mother brought the child to Ireland by ferry on 1 August 2016, alongside another child involved in related proceedings. The judgment says the application was issued on 8 November 2016.
The court accepted, on a prima facie basis, that the father had been exercising rights of custody. It relied on his name on the child’s birth certificate, his parental responsibility under English law, and evidence of access visits that continued until January 2016. The court said his contact did not need to be significant to count as exercising those rights. It also noted that the father had raised concerns with English social welfare authorities and that access became difficult after that report.
The court found that the child had been habitually resident in England and Wales, where she was born and where social welfare services had been involved throughout her life. It also considered an English High Court order of 1 August 2016 placing the children under the court’s wardship, directing their return and placing them in the care and control of the London Borough of Havering.
The child objected to returning, saying she preferred her Irish school, had felt bullied at her previous school because she was in care, and valued having a fresh start. She also said she did not know who her father was. The judge described her as mature and articulate, but said the paternity and welfare issues were better investigated by the courts in England and Wales. The court gave her views consideration but found they did not meet the threshold for refusing return under Article 13.
The mother had undertaken to bring the child to an earlier appointment to have her views assessed but did not do so. She also did not attend the scheduled hearing on 12 December; Garda assistance was required to bring her and the child to court. The mother alleged that the applicant was not the child’s natural father and raised concerns about a social worker. The court said the mother had an opportunity to give evidence and respond, and that the issues she raised were for the English courts.
The High Court declared the removal wrongful and ordered the child’s return to England and Wales, with further orders to facilitate the return. The judgment does not detail those facilitating orders.