FZD v MQB [2024] EWFC 205 (B)
Stowe Family Law’s Head of International and Partner Holly Lamb, recently instructed Simon Rowbotham, Barrister at 4PB, on a removal from the jurisdiction case.
This case was particularly unusual and interesting. There are few reported cases of wrongful removal to Scotland.
The case concerned a young child, aged 16 months at the time of the hearing, who had been wrongfully removed by the Mother to Scotland. Holly represented the Father, who applied for his daughter’s return to England.
When a child is removed from England to Scotland, or vice versa, the Hague Convention does not apply as the United Kingdom as a whole is signatory to the Convention, and the child has not been removed from the UK.
Thus, the issue at hand was a specific issue order under section 8 of the Children Act 1989. There were also serious allegations of domestic abuse against the Father.
In any court proceedings involving children, the welfare of the child is paramount. This is true in both Hague Convention cases, and non-Hague Convention cases, as in FZD v MQB.
Ultimately, the Judge required the child’s return to England for her wellbeing and relationship with both parents.
The judgment can be found here.