The High Court has ordered the return of a teenager to the jurisdiction of Northern Ireland after finding insufficient evidence that her mother consented to her removal to Ireland. The court will hear the parties separately on how and when the return should take place.
In a judgment delivered on 17 April 2023, Ms Justice Mary Rose Gearty considered an application under the Child Abduction and Enforcement of Custody Orders Act 1991 and the Hague Convention. The teenager, referred to as Alice in the judgment, had lived with her mother in Northern Ireland. Her father removed her from that home in December 2022, and she had not returned to live with her mother and siblings by the time of the judgment.
The judge found that the father had not proved consent to the move. He relied on an alleged oral agreement at a meeting on 24 October, an email from his solicitor referring to consent, and legal submissions in Northern Ireland proceedings. The mother denied agreeing to the move. The judge said the email had not been shown to have reached her, and that an unchallenged reference in the legal submissions did not establish positive consent in the circumstances.
The judgment also noted that the father had applied to an Irish school for Alice in early September, before the alleged October agreement. The judge found that the mother’s solicitor had objected in December and requested Alice’s return. The judge made no finding on the mother’s speculation that her signature might have been forged, saying there was no evidence of forgery.
The court rejected the father’s argument that the mother had later acquiesced in the move. The judge found no clear signal that she would not assert her custody rights. Alice’s visit home over Christmas did not establish acquiescence because proceedings had already begun.
The judge accepted that Alice objected to returning and that her views were her own, with no evidence of undue influence. But the objection was based in part on her belief that her mother had agreed to the move; the judge found that premise mistaken. The judgment also considered the effect of remaining in Ireland on Alice’s relationships with her siblings, and said that her long-term living arrangements should be decided in Northern Ireland through welfare proceedings, rather than in this urgent return hearing.
The court did not decide the broader welfare question of which parent Alice should live with. It ordered her return to Northern Ireland, while leaving the manner and timing for further consideration. The judge also made no findings on other allegations of deceit, fraud and manipulation raised by the parties.