Family

International child abduction is an increasing problem, but cross-border cooperation can achieve great things in curtailing it. In a good example, the High Court of Ireland acceded to an English local authority’s request for the return of a baby girl who was unlawfully removed from the UK by her parents. The girl was just a few months old when she was made subject to an interim care order and removed from her parents’ care. She was sent to live with her paternal grandmother after the council expressed concern that her mother had falsely reported the child as suffering from non-existent medical problems. Fearing that their baby would be placed for adoption, the couple removed the child from the grandmother’s home covertly by night and took her to Ireland. The child's disappearance sparked emergency contact between British and Irish police, but the ... Read more