E and F (Stranding), Re
[2024] EWHC 2901 (Fam)
C, Re
12 June 2024
[2024] EWHC 1433 (Fam)
High Court
A father took his daughter to Pakistan. The mother wouldn't bring her back. The UK court said it couldn't force the mother to return because the girl now lives in Pakistan. The case will be handled by the Pakistani courts now.
Key Facts
- •C, a nearly 4-year-old UK national, was wrongfully removed to Pakistan by her mother (M) in April 2021.
- •The father (F), a Pakistani national, applied for a Child Arrangements Order in the UK.
- •M denies F's paternity and alleges sexual assault and violence.
- •M has not engaged with UK proceedings.
- •F's UK immigration application was refused.
- •F applied to the High Court for a return order under the inherent jurisdiction.
- •M did not comply with court orders and was seen in Nottingham (mistakenly).
- •The proceedings have been ongoing for over 3 years with no substantive result.
Legal Principles
Habitual residence
Re B (A Child)(Custody Rights: Habitual Residence) [2016] EWHC 2174 (Fam), Re M (Children) (Habitual Residence: 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention) 2020 EWCA Civ 1105, Re LC (Children International Abduction: Child’s Objections to return) [2014] UKSC 1, Re A [2023] EWCA Civ 639, In re B (A Child) (International Centre for Family Law, Policy and Practice intervening) [2020] 4 WLR 149
Jurisdiction for Inherent Jurisdiction proceedings
Article 5 of the 1996 Hague Convention, s3 of the Family Law Act 1986, Article 7 of the 1996 Hague Convention, H v R and the Embassy of the State of Libya [2022] EWHC 1073 (Fam), Re M [2020] EWCA Civ 922, In re B (A Child) (Reunite International Child Abduction Centre and others intervening) [2016] AC 606, Al-Jeffery
Outcomes
Dismissal of the inherent jurisdiction application in the High Court.
The court lacked jurisdiction to make a return order due to C's habitual residence in Pakistan. The circumstances did not meet the threshold for exercising the inherent jurisdiction as there was no evidence of risk to C in Pakistan, F's delay in applying, and the availability of proceedings in Pakistan.
Dismissal of the private law Children Act application in the Nottingham Family Court.
Continuing the proceedings in the UK is futile due to C's habitual residence and absence from the UK. Pakistan is a more appropriate forum.