The High Court has ordered a 15-year-old boy, identified as Pawel in the judgment, to return to Poland after finding that his habitual residence had moved there and that his objection to returning was not strong enough to prevent the order.
In a judgment delivered on 20 February 2023, Ms Justice Mary Rose Gearty ruled on an application by the boy’s father under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. The father sought Pawel’s return to Poland. His mother, the respondent, argued that he was not habitually resident there at the relevant time and objected that he did not want to return.
The court found Pawel changed his habitual residence from Ireland to Poland in September 2021. He stayed in Poland for seven months from mid-2021, returned to Ireland from February until at least the end of April 2022, then went back to Poland in May and remained there until August. He had been enrolled in a Polish school, and the court found the schooling decision indicated a relocation for him, even though his mother had expected to spend time in Poland caring for her unwell mother. His maternal grandmother died in October 2021, but Pawel remained in Poland.
The judge considered Pawel’s family and social ties in both countries, his Polish nationality and passport, his schooling and the parents’ messages about his travel. The court noted that he had family in Ireland and Poland and spoke both Polish and English fluently. It concluded that Poland was where he lived, attended school and expected to remain at least in the medium term.
A court-appointed clinical psychologist assessed Pawel’s views. The judge accepted that, aged 15 and sufficiently mature, he objected to returning. He preferred to stay in Ireland, citing the prospect of making new friends again, difficulty studying in Polish and family dynamics in Poland. The judge found the concerns were not evidence that he had been coached, but described the objections as relatively mild and insufficient to outweigh the Convention’s objectives.
The judgment states that Pawel must return to Poland, where an application can be made to the relevant court if his parents cannot agree where he should live in the immediate future. The High Court’s order addresses return under the Convention; the judgment does not decide the longer-term custody or living arrangements.