Case Overview: Ukraine Child Abduction
19.03.2025
Case Overview: Ukraine Child Abduction
In this case, Dafina Morina, our Family Law Legal Consultant, who was supported by Bekarys Alimov, one of our paralegals within our family department, assisted the Respondent Mother in facing an application made under the 1980 Hague Convention from her ex-husband in Ukraine alleging child abduction.
Background and Timeline
The application claimed that the client had abducted the children without permission, despite the children having already relocated to London over a year before the application was filed. The matter was very complicated. The father had previously consented to the client and the children to move from Ukraine due to the war. The client believed that she still had his consent, but the father claimed he had withdrawn it and that she no longer had permission to leave.
The client initially went to Germany for six months and then moved to England at the start of 2024. The father’s position was that she had abducted the children without his permission and that he wanted them back. He also argued that the children should return to Ukraine as it was safe for them, whereas the client’s position was that it was not secure and the children would be harmed if forced to return.
Legal Challenges and Preparation
Navigating through significant case law gaps, we meticulously assisted in preparing the case. The case was ultimately won on the arguments of settlement and intolerability under The Hague Convention, arguments which Dafina Morina and counsel put forward, spending hours collating evidence.
The client emailed Dafina Morina and Bekarys Alimov, thanking them for all the hard work they put into her case, for taking it on, and for believing in her.
