CEDH · CASELAW;CLIN;ENG — 2 novembre 2010

.s3ABFC313 { font-size:10pt } .sEB86A30B { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:14pt; page-break-after:avoid } .sBB9EE52A { font-family:Arial } .sA241FE93 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:18pt; text-align:justify; page-break-after:avoid; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-bottom:1pt } .s2EF62ED2 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:12pt } .s4DDA3AA3 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; font-style:italic } .s29100277 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold } .s32563E28 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt } .s8F2B0B1B { margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:12pt; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12pt } .s9FF10068 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:12pt } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } .s5F48796F { margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:justify } .s5CB9E8AB { margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:justify; border-bottom:1pt solid #000000; padding-bottom:1pt } .sDF790F1E { margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center } .s7ED160F0 { text-decoration:none } .s3DC36BA9 { font-family:Arial; text-decoration:underline; color:#0069d6 } Information Note on the Court’s case-law No. 135 November 2010 Serghides v. Poland - 31515/04 Judgment 2.11.2010 [Section IV] Article 8 Article 8-1 Respect for family life Revocation, on account of unsatisfactory conduct by both parents, of order for return of applicant’s daughter following her abduction by mother: no violation   Facts – The applicant, a British national, requested the return to the United Kingdom of his minor daughter, who had been unlawfully taken to Poland by the mother, a Polish national. Law – Article 8: In April 2004 the authorities had ordered the child’s immediate return to the United Kingdom, then they had swiftly initiated a procedure for the enforcement of the decision in question. However, that procedure had never been completed and the enforcement had become without object about a year and a half later, because the decision that was supposed to be implemented had been amended on 10   May 2005 to the applicant’s disadvantage. The authorities had found that the relevant circumstances had changed, with the result that the child’s return to the United Kingdom might now expose her to harm, within the meaning of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction of 1980. A failed attempt by the father to retrieve his child from her mother in order to take her back to the United Kingdom, in spite of the proceedings pending in Poland for the enforcement of the decision ordering her return to her father, had apparently had a negative impact on the child’s emotional condition. It had allegedly contributed to a breakdown in emotional ties between the applicant and his daughter, subsequently worsened by the mother’s behaviour. Thus it did not appear that the passage of time related to the length of the proceedings had been the main factor for the finding of a change in the relevant circumstances. On the contrary, to a large extent it was the conduct of the child’s parents, which was found to have been unsatisfactory by the experts, that had been the cause of that change. In addition, whilst the applicant had been advised by a professional, he had not made use of the means available in domestic law to remain in contact with his daughter during that decisive period for his relationship with his child. The proceedings at issue had lasted for a total of about three and a half years. During that period the authorities had not remained inactive. They had taken action with a view to concluding the case and hearings had generally been held with due diligence. In view of the above, the revocation of the decision ordering the return of the applicant’s daughter to him in the United Kingdom could not, on the whole, be attributed to the conduct of the national authorities. Conclusion : no violation (four votes to three).   © Council of Europe/European Court of Human Rights This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court. Click here for the Case-Law Information Notes