Legal Update: Court Report - Transfer of care proceedings from Ireland to England

Case name LM (A Child)
Case number [2013] EWHC 646 (Fam)
Judge Hon Mr Justice Cobb
Location Royal Courts of Justice

Last summer, a mother and father travelled from England to Ireland prior to the birth of their daughter (LM). Public law final orders had placed the mother’s first three children in kinship placements, and the mother travelled to Ireland in an attempt to avoid court proceedings regarding LM. However, LM was placed in foster care by the Cavan District Court soon after her birth.

When the mother returned to England, she applied for LM’s case to be transferred to English courts. All parties agreed and Justice Birmingham of the Irish High Court requested under Article 15(1)(b) of BIIR (an EC regulation concerning jurisdiction on issues of parental responsibility) that the High Court of England and Wales accept jurisdiction over LM’s care proceedings.

According to Article 15(1)(b) of BIRR, a case may be transferred to a different jurisdiction if (i) the court is better placed to conduct proceedings; (ii) the child in concern has a particular connection to the country, and (iii) the transfer would be in the child’s best interests. Justice Cobb began by establishing that the court receiving the request must consider the child’s best interests above all other criteria.

In this case, given that LM was British, her parents, siblings and kinship carers were British, LM’s only connection to Ireland was her mother’s strategic move, and LM’s mother currently resided in England, it was determined to be in LM’s best interests to transfer proceedings from the Cavan District Courts to the Courts of England and Wales.