11-year-old goes back to Ireland against his wishes after ruling
Robert Matas
Vancouver — From Thursday's Globe and Mail Last updated on Thursday, Aug. 06, 2009 03:12AM EDT
An 11-year-old boy has been sent back to Ireland against his wishes following a contentious case in which a B.C. court ruled that an international convention on child abductions takes precedent over the consideration of the best interests of the child.
The case was possibly the first time the province's appeal court had been asked to consider exceptions to an international convention that requires abducted children be returned without deciding which parent should have custody, Madam Justice Mary Newbury of the B.C. Court of Appeal stated in a ruling distributed yesterday.
The international convention allows for an abducted child to not be returned if the child objects and is of an age and maturity for which it is appropriate to take account of their views.
But Judge Newbury said she agreed with the lower court judge who declined to let the child decide whether he would stay with his father in Canada or his mother in Ireland.
“The father's position comes perilously close to the proposition the child's best interests are whatever the child wishes,” the judge wrote on behalf of a three-member panel. “As any parents knows, this is not the case, and in any event, [the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction] makes it clear that it is not the function of this court at this stage to determine where the child's best interests lie, in terms of custody and access.”
The B.C. court's role is to decide whether the child should be returned to Ireland in accordance with the international convention, or whether an exception to the convention applies, Judge Newbury said. The Irish court will assess custody and access issues, “which of course do turn on the child's best interests,” she wrote.
The child was referred to as A in a series of court rulings over the past six months. A's mother, Deirdre Beatty, took him to Ireland for a vacation after separating from his father in 2003, but did not return to Canada.
His father, Ernie Schatz, obtained a court order in Ireland allowing him to bring A to Canada for a vacation last year, after providing a statement under oath promising to return the child to Ireland after one month.
Mr. Schatz initially refused to send the boy back, saying he wanted to respect A's wish to stay in Canada, according to the mother's lawyer, William Storey. A was returned to Ireland a few weeks ago, after the judge announced his decision in court on June 26, Mr. Storey said in an interview.
was dazu sagen das arme kind das hin und her gezerrt wird den schaden der dabei angerichtete wird bei dem kind kann keiner der elternteile je wieder gut machen lg Angelika
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06.08.2009 18:35
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