A family vacation went … and the mother ran away with her two-year-old son
A two-year-old boy returned to Malta on the orders of a French court, which found that his mother had been detained in France illegally after the family was there during Christmas.
The boy was born in Malta and lived here with his Maltese father and Irish mother.
He returned on Wednesday, five months after leaving for what was to be a holiday with his unmarried parents.
In its judgment of 3 May, the Civil Court of Marseilles noted that the couple had been cohabiting since August 2018. Each had their own accommodation, with the father based in Malta and the mother having a house registered in ‘Monaco. Their son was born on December 21, 2019.
At no time was it thought that the father would return to Malta alone without his partner and son.– Civil Court of Marseilles
The mother stayed in Malta for a long time with the child due to medical complications she experienced after the birth and also because the global COVID-19 pandemic prevented her from returning to France.
At the end of 2021, they went on a family Christmas vacation. They left Malta on the 22nd of December and had tickets to return on the 7th of January. The mother has a home in France and her father lives there.
However, the day before they had to fly back, the mother fled with the child in her father’s car.
International abduction
On 8 January, the boy’s father, through his lawyer, Robert Thake, brought an action before the central Maltese authority to denounce the international abduction of the boy.
The French court noted that, under Article 3 of the Hague Convention, the removal or detention of a child is considered unlawful if it infringes the rights of custody conferred by the law of the State in which the child is habitually resident immediately prior to removal.
Under Maltese law, both parents were exercising their right of custody in January 2022.
The Court found that Malta was the place of habitual residence of the child since he was born in Malta, a country of which he was a national. He had regular medical check-ups and attended kindergarten here.
Although the mother insisted that she was a resident of Monaco, the Court concluded that she was living in Malta.
“These elements, therefore, make it possible to determine that the child’s habitual residence was in Malta, that the family did not in any way envisage a permanent departure from Malta, that the journey at the end of 2021 was temporary for the Christmas holidays and that at no time was it foreseen that the father would return to Malta alone without his partner and their son, ”the Court found.
Leaving the child without giving any news as the mother had “undoubtedly removed the child from her usual place of residence”, the court ruled, ordering the return of the child. -child.
The mother filed an appeal.
Freelance journalism costs money. Times of Malta Support for price of coffee.
Support us