Conflicts of Eu Courts on Child Abduction
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CONTENT Country Reports May 2016 CONFLICTS OF EU COURTS ON CHILD ABDUCTION CONFLICTS OF EU COURTS ON CHILD ABDUCTION Table of Contents Researchers ..................................................................................................................... 5 Professor Paul Beaumont ......................................................................................................... 5 Dr Lara Walker ......................................................................................................................... 5 Jayne Holliday LLM .................................................................................................................. 5 The Project ...................................................................................................................... 5 Summary of findings ....................................................................................................... 6 Methodology ........................................................................................................................... 6 Acknowledgement ................................................................................................................... 7 General Findings ...................................................................................................................... 8 Outcome ............................................................................................................................... 10 Hearing the Child ................................................................................................................... 11 The other requirements in Article 42 ...................................................................................... 12 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 13 Contact Information ............................................................................................................... 13 Austria .......................................................................................................................... 14 Belgium ......................................................................................................................... 25 Bulgaria......................................................................................................................... 45 Croatia .......................................................................................................................... 48 Cyprus ........................................................................................................................... 49 Czech Republic.............................................................................................................. 50 Estonia .......................................................................................................................... 52 Finland .......................................................................................................................... 53 France ........................................................................................................................... 54 Germany ....................................................................................................................... 66 Greece ........................................................................................................................... 77 Hungary ........................................................................................................................ 80 Ireland ........................................................................................................................... 84 Italy ............................................................................................................................... 98 Latvia .......................................................................................................................... 119 Lithuania ..................................................................................................................... 129 Luxembourg ................................................................................................................ 133 Malta ........................................................................................................................... 135 The Netherlands .......................................................................................................... 138 Poland ......................................................................................................................... 144 Portugal....................................................................................................................... 154 Romania ...................................................................................................................... 164 3 CONFLICTS OF EU COURTS ON CHILD ABDUCTION Slovakia ....................................................................................................................... 169 Slovenia ....................................................................................................................... 170 Spain ........................................................................................................................... 175 Sweden ........................................................................................................................ 184 UK ............................................................................................................................... 187 England and Wales ............................................................................................................... 187 Northern Ireland .................................................................................................................. 212 Scotland .............................................................................................................................. 214 Drawing on the front cover is ‘Justice and the Child’ by Jayne Holliday © 4 CONFLICTS OF EU COURTS ON CHILD ABDUCTION Researchers Professor Paul Beaumont Chair in Private International Law and EU Law at the University of Aberdeen, Director of the Centre for Private International Law, University of Aberdeen. Dr Lara Walker Lecturer in Law at the University of Sussex and Associate Member of the Centre for Private International Law, University of Aberdeen. Jayne Holliday LLM Research Assistant and Secretary of the Centre for Private International Law, University of Aberdeen. The Project Professor Paul Beaumont of the University of Aberdeen, in collaboration with Dr Lara Walker of the University of Sussex, received funding from the Nuffield Foundation to carry out empirical research on Child Abduction in the European Union. The project started on 1st April 2014 for a period of 20 months. This project aimed to look at cases where a non-return had been ordered by the state of refuge under Article 13 of the Hague Child Abduction Convention 1980. In particular, it aimed to assess how Brussels IIa Regulation no 2201/2003 was being interpreted in cases in the EU where the courts of the habitual residence of an abducted child override the non-return order of the courts in the State where the child was abducted by making an Article 11(8) return order. The research also sought to determine whether the parties and the child had been heard in the courts of the habitual residence of the child, in accordance with a right to a fair trial, and whether those courts had taken adequate account of the reasons given for non-return by the court of refuge. In addition, the distinction between a return order and a custody order in the State of the habitual residence of the child was addressed, through examination of the relevant case-law. In light of the impending review of the Brussels IIa Regulation, the objective of the project was to determine how the Regulation was being applied in these particular cases, whether there was a uniform approach in the differing jurisdictions and whether the recommendations in the Commission’s Practice Guide were being adhered to. We also considered what changes to recommend to the Brussels IIa Regulation and/or the Commission’s Practice Guide. The overall findings from the research are found at “Conflicts of EU courts on child abduction: the reality of Article 11(6)-(8) Brussels IIa proceedings across the EU” (2016) 12 Journal of Private International Law (forthcoming). 5 CONFLICTS OF EU COURTS ON CHILD ABDUCTION Summary of findings Methodology A pilot questionnaire was sent to the German Central Authority and to ICACU. A detailed response was received from Dr Andrea Schulz at the German Central Authority for which we are grateful. The revised questionnaire was distributed to all Central Authorities in May 2014 requesting data in relation to Article 11(6)-(8) Brussels IIa proceedings following on from a non-return order under Article 13 of the Hague Child Abduction Convention in the period between the entry into force of Brussels IIa and 28 February 2014. Most Central Authorities provided some information, whether it was a full response to the questionnaire, a partial response to the questionnaire or general statistical data. No information was provided by the Central Authorities of Greece, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and England and Wales. The information gathered from Central Authorities was supplemented by data, case files and case summaries provided by native researchers