Published on 14 November 2022

FIRST SECTION

Application no. 10819/22 A.O. against Poland lodged on 21 February 2022 communicated on 25 October 2022

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE

The application concerns the outcome and the length of proceedings under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (“Hague Convention”) instituted by the applicant, a Polish national, to seek the return of his son, B.O., from Poland to Germany.

In 2016 the applicant married J.O., a Polish national, who gave birth to B.O. in October 2017. The family lived together in Germany. In January 2019 J.O. took B.O. to Poland without the applicant’s consent.

On 25 April 2019 the applicant’s Hague Convention request was registered with the Katowice Regional Court ( Sąd Okręgowy ). On 13 June 2019 that court ordered that B.O. be returned to Germany.

On 29 June 2020 the Warsaw Court of Appeal ( Sąd Apelacyjny ) upheld that ruling. Among others, it relied on a report prepared by expert psychologists from the Katowice Advisory Panel of Court Experts ( Opiniodawczy Zespół Sądowych Specjalistów ) which concluded that “B.O.’s return to Germany with his mother” would not expose him to physical or psychological harm or otherwise place him in an intolerable situation. It also stated that overall, the applicant’s parental skills met the child’s basic needs and that nothing suggested that he had acted to B.O.’s detriment.

On 25 June 2021 the Supreme Court ( Sąd Najwyższy ) quashed that judgment and remitted the case.

On 31 August 2021 the Warsaw Court of Appeal dismissed the applicant’s request relying on Article 13 (b) of the Hague Convention. The court found that while the applicant had never been violent towards B.O., the child had developed a strong emotional bond with J.O., who had to stay in Poland to take care of her son from her previous marriage. The court also observed that it would be very difficult for J.O. to resettle in Germany and to ensure that B.O.’s basic needs were satisfied.

Relying on Article 8 of the Convention, the applicant essentially complains of the unfavourable outcome and excessive length of the domestic proceedings.

QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES

1. Has there been a violation of the applicant’s right to respect for his family life, contrary to Article 8 of the Convention?

2. In particular:

(a) Is the interpretation of Article 13 (b) of the Hague Convention applied by the domestic courts in the case at hand compatible with the requirements of Article 8 of the Convention?

(b) Is the dismissal of the applicant’s Hague Convention request compatible with the procedural requirements of Article 8 of the Convention, in so far as the impugned Hague Convention proceedings lasted more than two years and four months?