The High Court has refused an application to return three children from Ireland to Pakistan, finding that their welfare was best served by remaining with their mother in Ireland. The court also vacated interim orders made in the proceedings.
The father sought the children’s return under the 1996 Hague Convention and the court’s inherent jurisdiction, and asked the court to recognise orders made by a court in Lahore. He argued that the children had become habitually resident in Pakistan during the family’s 18-month stay there and had been removed in breach of Pakistani court orders.
The mother said she had agreed to the move under pressure and had not known of the order restraining the children’s removal. The court accepted her account of the move and found that she was credible. It also found that she had not alienated the children from their father and that there was no basis for allegations that she was unstable or beat the children. The court noted evidence of violence and oppression in the relationship but said it was not determining whether the specific incidents occurred as she described them.
The court found that the children were habitually resident in Pakistan at the relevant time. It nevertheless held that Pakistan was not a state covered by the relevant Hague Convention or EU regulation for this application, and that Irish domestic law applied. The court considered whether an urgent protective measure under Article 11 of the 1996 Convention was necessary, but concluded that refusing a return order would not cause the children irreparable harm and that a return could cause such harm.
The children had told an assessor and the judge that they did not want to return to Pakistan. The court gave substantial weight to their views, particularly those of the two older children, and found that their views were independently formed. It also found that they had stronger connections to Ireland: all three were born there, were Irish citizens, had spent most of their lives and education there, and were settled in school. The court accepted the assessor’s view that removing them from Ireland or their mother’s care would seriously harm their wellbeing.
The refusal was not a determination of the underlying custody dispute in Pakistan. The court’s order was that the children remain in Ireland with their mother, and that the interim orders in the Irish proceedings be vacated.