Complexity added to child return order by asylum application in recent case.
The recent judgement in the family court (citation - [2020] EWHC 2394 (Fam)) demonstrated the complex nature of cases the family court can handle.
The case here related to child return orders and asylum applications.
In this case a parent had arranged for the child concerned to make an application for asylum. The question the court faced was whether this prohibited the enforcement of the return order.
The Judgment passed was that the commencement of an asylum application on behalf of a child did indeed prohibit the enforcement of the return order. This was originally made under the Hague Convention 1980. Under the Law, this allowed no exceptions.
This was even if the court had concluded that the asylum application was a “sham” and “tactical” to slow the return order process
Important to note that in this case, the thoughts and feelings or voice of the child were taken into account, something taken seriously in the Family Law field.
You can read more on this case and the Judgment at the following link at the Family Law Hub.