JMW’s expert family law solicitors helped a father secure his baby’s return to England after the child was retained in Dubai in an international abduction case.

The Case

Our client’s young baby was taken to Dubai by his mother under the pretence of a holiday. Once in Dubai, the mother refused to return to England with the child and our client was left in the awful position of being without his son, and with no certainty as to when he would return.

Because our client’s son was living in Dubai, he had to demonstrate to the court in England and Wales that it had jurisdiction to decide whether the son should be returned to the country. Our client knew that this was a complicated area of law and that he would need an experienced lawyer, with a thorough understanding of matters regarding children, who could help him during the legal process.

How Did JMW Help?

Our client chose JMW for our speed and our expertise in international abduction cases, which can be complex and highly sensitive. Our team had the experience to respond immediately to our client’s emergency situation and were able to offer technical expertise alongside practical emotional support.

We helped the client overcome the hurdle of jurisdiction by putting together a robust argument that the child’s habitual residence was in England, meaning that the court of England and Wales was the correct authority to make a ruling. We also prepared sophisticated arguments in terms of jurisdiction and citizenship in the event the court determined the child did not have his habitual residence in England.

JMW presented our client’s case and highlighted the importance of our client’s child having the opportunity to develop a solid bond with his father, which was critical for his development at such a young age. We evidenced how our client was being marginalised and prevented from exercising his parental responsibility, and that this was not in the child’s best interests, given that our client was such a central figure in his life.

We explained each stage of the process in detail to our client to help him understand why it was necessary to take certain steps and made sure that our client always felt informed and empowered. Dealing with such a technical area of law can make clients feel overwhelmed and intimidated, and it was important to us that our client felt supported throughout the process.