Petition of IK Petitioner for orders under the Child Abduction and Custody Act 1985
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Judge | Lord Braid |
| Judgment Date | 23 December 2025 |
| Neutral Citation | [2025] CSOH 123 |
| Docket Number | P1151/25 |
| Published date | 23 December 2025 |
| Court | Court of Session |
| Date | 23 December 2025 |
OUTER HOUSE, COURT OF SESSION
[2025] CSOH 123
P1151/25
OPINION OF LORD BRAID
In the Petition of
IK
Petitioner
for
orders under the Child Abduction and Custody Act 1985
Petitioner: Laing; Morton Fraser MacRoberts LLP
Respondent: Trainer; BCKM Solicitors
23 December 2025
Introduction
[1] The petitioner and respondent, who are Hungarian, are married to each other, and
have a daughter, L, aged 6. She was born in Belfast in 2019, where the parties lived at that
time, and is a dual citizen of Hungary and the United Kingdom. In 2020, the family moved
back to Hungary. L is habitually resident there. On 29 August 2025 the respondent and L
travelled to Scotland, with the petitioner’s consent, the parties’ intention, at that time, being
that the petitioner would join the respondent and L in Scotland. However, in
September 2025, the respondent told the petitioner that their marriage was over and that she
2
had a new partner. She does not intend to return to Hungary. Instead, she intends to
remain in Scotland with L.
[2] Against that background, the petitioner seeks an order in terms of the Child
Abduction and Custody Act 1985 for return of L from Scotland to Hungary on the basis that
she has been wrongfully retained here. The petition is opposed by the respondent.
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction
[3] The 1985 Act incorporated into domestic law the Hague Convention on the Civil
Aspects of International Child Abduction, to which both the United Kingdom and Hungary
are signatories. Article 1 of the Convention provides that the objects of the Convention are
(a) to secure the prompt return of children wrongfully removed to or retained in any
Contracting State, and (b) to ensure that rights of custody and of access under the law of one
Contracting State are eectively respected in the other Contracting States. Article 3
provides:
“The removal or the retention of a child is to be considered wrongful where –
(a) it is in breach of rights of custody attributed to a person, an institution or any
other body, either jointly or alone, under the law of the State in which the child
was habitually resident immediately before the removal or retention; and
(b) at the time of removal or retention those rights were actually exercised, either
jointly or alone, or would have been so exercised but for the removal or
retention.”
[4] Subject to certain exceptions which do not apply here, Article 12 provides that where
a child has been wrongfully removed or retained in terms of Article 3, the requested State
where the child is shall order the return of the child forthwith. However, Article 13 contains
certain defences which, if established, mean that return need not be ordered. That Article
provides:
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