February Issue of Irish Child and Family Law Update

The February issue of Irish Child and Family Law Update is now available for subscribers of the Irish Child and Family Law Online Service.

This month features Grainne McMahon’s insightful case analysis of H v I. A child, D, had been removed from Ireland to Poland in 2018. The parents, the parties in the case, had lived in Ireland as a family. D has other siblings in both countries. The case began in Poland under the Hague Convention and Regulation 2201/2003/EC, where the applicant father applied for the return of his child. The Polish courts ruled that D had been wrongfully removed but should stay in Poland as it would pose a grave risk to him, within the meaning of art 13 of the Convention, to return him to Ireland. The ultimate substantive issue was a decision on custody, based on the best interests of the child, not a decision on whether the child should be returned under the summary procedure set out in Regulation 2201/2003/EC. The court had to decide, in accordance with the principles set out in the Guardianship of Infants Act 1964, if it was in D’s best interests to stay in Poland with the respondent or to move to be with the applicant in Ireland.