Hague Convention & Court

Bajer

rolly1 wrote: »

Anyway luckily we have a thing called guardianship in Ireland and a legal remedy to this kind of madness.

Anybody experiencing the trauma of this ludicrous situation check this link out

Hi, I am in the middle of a Hague case where my ex-partner abducted my daughter and took her to America, along with her other daughter who is not my biological child. I have guardianship of my daughter (luckily), and it looks like she will return voluntarily. I doubt if that will be the end of the issue though, as she has said that she will leave the other daughter in America and I reckon she will try to go to court here to try to get permission to remove my daughter. The mother and two girls all have dual Irish/American citizenship (both grls were born here), and the mother obtained an American passport for my daughter without my consent (presumably by swearing an affadavit). I don't relish the prospect of having to spend years going through the courts here trying to stop her taking her again (I reckon the mother will just keep appealing, and why not she'll be on free legal aid). Does anyone know if I can use the GOIA to get an injunction to nip that course of action in the bud. And if so, could I get the injuction prior to the mother returning here with my daughter. I know I should consult a solicitor, but any that I have spoken to regarding the Hague aspect of the case have been woefully ignorant of family law, and I also can't really afford it at the moment having just returned to work. Or, if anyone could recommend a really good family law solicitor in Dublin, I'd get the money somehow once I knew I wasn't wasting it on some hack. Can I make an application to the High Court myself?

Thanks,
Bajer

Klingon Hamlet

Bajer wrote: »

Hi, I am in the middle of a Hague case where my ex-partner abducted my daughter and took her to America, along with her other daughter who is not my biological child. I have guardianship of my daughter (luckily), and it looks like she will return voluntarily. I doubt if that will be the end of the issue though, as she has said that she will leave the other daughter in America and I reckon she will try to go to court here to try to get permission to remove my daughter. The mother and two girls all have dual Irish/American citizenship (both grls were born here), and the mother obtained an American passport for my daughter without my consent (presumably by swearing an affadavit). I don't relish the prospect of having to spend years going through the courts here trying to stop her taking her again (I reckon the mother will just keep appealing, and why not she'll be on free legal aid). Does anyone know if I can use the GOIA to get an injunction to nip that course of action in the bud. And if so, could I get the injuction prior to the mother returning here with my daughter. I know I should consult a solicitor, but any that I have spoken to regarding the Hague aspect of the case have been woefully ignorant of family law, and I also can't really afford it at the moment having just returned to work. Or, if anyone could recommend a really good family law solicitor in Dublin, I'd get the money somehow once I knew I wasn't wasting it on some hack. Can I make an application to the High Court myself?

Thanks,
Bajer

Have you contacted the Free Legal Advice Centre nearest you? www.flac.ie You can do everything yourself but you may well be entitled to some form of legal aid...

January

Hi Bajer,

I've moved your post to the Legal Discussion forum as you will probably get some better answers from the posters here re: the legal side of the case than in the Parenting forum.

January

Bajer

I'm not entitled to legal aid as I am working and am above the income threshold. I was out of work for a while and exhausted all my savings, so funds are a bit tight at the moment. I spent a very frustrating couple of weeks recently getting sent back and forth between FLAC and the Central Authority for Child Abduction section of the Dept of Justice enquiring about legal aid for the Hague aspect of the case. I had been told (by one of the solicitors I had contacted) that I should be entitled to legal aid as it was a child abduction case and that such cases are automatically entitled to free legal aid, but the upshot of it is, is that that only applies to incoming cases. As there would be no hague related hearings in Ireland I wouldn't be entitled to legal aid. I tried to argue that I was in desperate need of legal advice as it wasn't just a simple case of getting the child returned - that there would be likely to be subsequent custody cases here etc. But that arguement fell on deaf ears.

dermot_sheehan

once the kid is returned, the hague aspect is gone. The mother could seek permission from the District Court to take the child to the u.s., and the court will consider what is in the best interests of the child.

Bajer

dermot_sheehan wrote: »

once the kid is returned, the hague aspect is gone. The mother could seek permission from the District Court to take the child to the u.s., and the court will consider what is in the best interests of the child.

I have no doubt that that is exactly what she will do, and that she is leaving the other daughter in America to strengthen her case. But according to Rollo1's link in my original post, http://www.parentalequality.ie/pe/default2.asp?active_page_id=382 The Guardianship of Infants Act can be used to negate this possibility, and that in fact, it should be impossible for any court to order the removal of a child against a guardian's wishes. Is this correct, and if so, can I initiate High Court proceedings to get an injunction preventing the future removal of my daughter? And can I do this before she actually returns and can I make an application to the High Court myself?

Thanks,
Bajer

James Jones

Bajer wrote: »

I have guardianship of my daughter (luckily), and it looks like she will return voluntarily. I doubt if that will be the end of the issue though, as she has said that she will leave the other daughter in America and I reckon she will try to go to court here to try to get permission to remove my daughter. The mother and two girls all have dual Irish/American citizenship (both grls were born here), and the mother obtained an American passport for my daughter without my consent (presumably by swearing an affadavit).

When she returns, report the matter to the Gardai as a criminal offence has been committed.

Section 16.—(1) of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997 states that
"A person to whom this section applies shall be guilty of an offence, who takes, sends or keeps a child under the age of 16 years out of the State or causes a child under that age to be so taken, sent or kept—
(a) in defiance of a court order, or
(b) without the consent of each person who is a parent, or guardian or person to whom custody of the child has been granted by a court unless the consent of a court was obtained".

Bajer

Hi James, thanks for the reply. The Gardai have already been notified and have been made aware of the above article of law. They then took a statement and escalated it to Interpol. I do not know if she will face prosecution for this (probably not), or for the perjury committed in obtaining the passport. Apparently arrest warrants for parental abduction cases have to be issued by the DPP, so I have written to the DPP's office to see if they will be issuing an arrest warrant.