Consent - Art. 13(1)(a) | Procedural Matters
Appeal dismissed, return ordered
1 2 11 13(1)(a) 19 26
Appeal dismissed and return ordered; Article 13(1)(a) had not been proved to the standard required under the Convention.
Interpretation of the Convention
2 7 16
Appeal dismissed; refusal to make a custody order upheld. The Court held that Article 16 prohibits a custody decision on the merits where a return order has been made but not yet enforced.
Grave Risk - Art. 13(1)(b) | Undertakings
Return ordered subject to undertakings
1 2 13(1)(b)
Return ordered, subject to undertakings; a grave risk of harm had not been proved to the standard required under the Convention.
European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)
1 2 3 6 7 8 11 12 13(1)(a) 13(1)(b) 13(2) 13(3) 12(2) 12(1)
Unanimous: no breach of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). There was no separate issue concerning the claims based on Articles 6 and 13. The authorities' lack of diligence in preventing the abduction was admittedly manifest but had been indemnified by the Spanish authorities. The authorities had not been lacking in diligence regarding the child's return, despite the absence of results in this respect.
Removal and Retention - Arts 3 and 12 | Grave Risk - Art. 13(1)(b)
Return ordered
1 2 3 4 5 12 13(1)(a)
Child wrongfully retained at age 12 – Citizen of Georgia – Divorced parents – Father national of Georgia – Mother national of Greece – Parents had joint custody – Child lived in Cyprus from 2008 until August 2012 – Application for return was filed with the Central Authority on 18 December 2012 – Main issue: Article 3 – the child’s State of habitual residence was Cyprus and there was no evidence to support the use of one of the exceptions to return under the 1980 Convention.
Issues Relating to Return
2 7
Aims of the Convention - Preamble, Arts 1 and 2 | Grave Risk - Art. 13(1)(b)
Return refused
2 3 11 12 13(1)(a) 13(1)(b) 13(2) 16 20 13(3)
Return refused; the removal was wrongful, but there was a grave risk that a return would expose the child to psychological harm and place him in an intolerable situation.
Rights of Custody - Art. 3 | Grave Risk - Art. 13(1)(b) | Objections of the Child to a Return - Art. 13(2) | Settlement of the Child - Art. 12(2)
2 3 7 10 11 12 13(1)(a) 13(1)(b) 13(2) 14 13(3) 12(2) 12(1)
Return refused; the removal was wrongful, being in breach of the father's rights of custody, but the older siblings had valid objections to a return and the children would face a grave risk of harm if separated.
