As reported by the District Prosecutor’s Office in Jelenia Góra:
Proceedings were held before the District Court in Jelenia Góra concerning the non-recognition of a ruling by a British family court that ordered two children to return to the United Kingdom. The applicant was a Polish citizen, the mother of an 11-year-old girl and a 13-year-old boy, who had moved with them to Poland. At the request of the children’s father, a British citizen, the court there ordered the children’s return to the United Kingdom.
Investigators add: – The District Prosecutor’s Office in Jelenia Góra joined the proceedings, actively supporting the children’s mother’s application.
Why did the Prosecutor’s Office support the Polish mother?
Prosecutor’s Office: – It was pointed out in particular that the woman had not been notified at all about the proceedings pending in the United Kingdom. The court there, when ordering the children’s return to the United Kingdom, did not take the mother’s or the children’s own positions into account. The woman and her children were deprived of the opportunity to defend their rights.
Investigators emphasize:
It was also demonstrated that the British court improperly invoked EU provisions, even though, in view of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union, they did not apply. The proceedings should instead have been based on the applicable bilateral international agreements, which required, among other things, that the other parent and the children be heard before the court made its decision.
It should also be added that an earlier ruling was issued by the Court of Appeal in Warsaw under the Hague Convention, dismissing the father’s application for the children’s return to the United Kingdom.
The District Court in Jelenia Góra agreed with the arguments of the applicant and the Prosecutor’s Office and, in its ruling of 22 September 2022, refused to recognize the ruling of the British Family Court.
The ruling of the Jelenia Góra court is not final. The parties may appeal it.
(Illustrative photo).