The High Court ordered an urgent operation to locate two children and return them to Germany after finding their mother had breached court orders and an undertaking to return them by 23 December 2015. The order allows Gardaí and social workers to take the children to Dublin Airport or another designated location for handover to their father, who is to return with them to Germany.
The judgment, delivered by Ms Justice Bronagh O’Hanlon on 13 January 2016, followed earlier proceedings under the Hague Convention on international child abduction. In July 2015, the High Court had found that the mother wrongfully removed the children from Germany in December 2014 and ordered their return. The Court of Appeal upheld that decision and set a deadline of 23 December 2015, subject to conditions including that the mother could remain in Ireland if permitted by the relevant German court or if a higher court granted a stay.
The Supreme Court refused leave to appeal. The mother did not return the children by the deadline. The father brought an enforcement application on 11 January 2016. Although he had sought committal, that relief was not pursued at the hearing. The court instead considered requests for the children’s passports to be surrendered and for Gardaí to assist with their return.
The mother did not attend the 13 January hearing. Her sister gave evidence but did not provide a clear account of the children’s whereabouts. She eventually said they may have gone with their mother to a women’s refuge in Northern Ireland. Social workers from Tusla told the court they did not consider there was enough information to seek an emergency care order. The judgment records that a doctor had raised concerns that the mother might harm herself or the children; no medical witness was available for cross-examination.
The court rejected the mother’s submissions, concluding that the issues had already been decided in the return proceedings and that she was attempting to relitigate them. It ordered anyone holding the children’s passports to hand them to Gardaí immediately. Gardaí were authorised to contact police in Northern Ireland and seek location information from the Department of Social Protection. The applicant’s solicitor was permitted to contact women’s refuges and make further enquiries with the doctor. The mother’s sister was ordered to disclose any information about the children’s whereabouts without delay.
The order also provides for emergency travel documents if the children’s location is found, permits them to travel with their father, and awards him the costs of the motion, reserved costs and specified travel expenses. The court said further orders might be needed and adjourned the motion with liberty to apply. It did not make a new custody or welfare determination: the judgment states that those matters remained for the German courts.