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The importance of the child’s voice when enforcing orders under the 1996 Hague Convention
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F and M [2018] EWHC 2106 (Fam) is an interesting Anglo Russian child case with a lengthy history. The matter came before Cohen LJ on 3-4 July 2018 whereby he refused to register a Russian order which ordered the child to be returned to Russia on the bases that a) the child had not been heard; b) she would be separated from her mother and her new family because the mother could not go back to Russia as she was at risk of imprisonment. It touches on the importance of the voice of a 10-year-old child being heard when considering the recognition of a Russian order under the 1996 Hague Convention.
Background
The parties separated in September 2009 and subsequently divorced. In 2011 the mother began a new relationship with 'C'. He is a businessman and prominent critic of the Russian Government and President Putin in particular. He is a leading campaigner against what he says is widespread corruption in Russia.
In April 2014 the mother and her daughter ('A') travelled to London to meet C. The following month she gave birth to a son by C; the half-brother of A. Shortly...
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