“It is highly unlikely that an Algerian court would accede to an application by a Moroccan mother to remove her son, considered to be an Algerian Muslim child, from Algeria without the consent of the father. An Algerian court would not consider itself bound by any English family court orders as regards the child…. The only way would be for the Father to agree to the child returning to the UK which an Algerian court would adhere to.”
“If it be the case that [the] applicant cannot prove that the defendant was able to comply with the order, then s/he is not in contempt of court. It is not enough to suspect recalcitrance. It is for the applicant to establish that it was within the power of the defendant to do what the order required. It is not for the defendant to establish that it was not within his/her power to do it. That burden remains on the applicant throughout, but it does not require the applicant to adduce evidence of a particular means of compliance which was available to the defendant provided the applicant can satisfy the judge so that s/he is sure that compliance was possible. The judge must determine whether s/he is sure that the defendant has not done what s/he was required to do and, if s/he has not, whether it was within his/her power to do it. Could s/he do it? Was s/he able to do it? These are questions of fact. That said, breach may occur where compliance is difficult or inconvenient but not impossible see Perkier Foods Ltd. v Halo Foods Ltd.[2019] EWHC 3462 (QB) .”
“17. I am entitled, in my view, to take into account express findings made by Sir Jonathan Cohen on15 April 2024 . He heard oral evidence from F, during which I am told that F referred to the purported refusal of his mother to cooperate. The judge reached a number of important conclusions contained in his ex tempore judgment: (i) He found F's evidence to be "very unsatisfactory", saying that "It is absolutely clear that he has taken no step to obtain the return of V to this jurisdiction" (para 10). (ii) He recorded that F "has provided no documents in relation to Algerian proceedings. He says there is a port alert. He says there is a care order but he can provide not one document that supports that being the case" (para 11). (iii) F told him that "the power of attorney is now all irrelevant because the Court in Algeria will act on welfare principles", even though the Power of Attorney was the basis of the grandmother's application to the Algerian court (para 14). (iv) "It seems to me the father has not begun to discharge the argument that the paternal grandmother in Algeria is not just doing his bidding" (para 15). (v) "In short, it seems to me that the father has done absolutely nothing to attempt to bring [V] back to this jurisdiction and has not produced a shred of evidence to show that it is impossible for him to do so" (para 17). These are all evidential findings, albeit made to the civil standard, which I am entitled to take into account, and which were left undisturbed by the Court of Appeal.”
“19. In late April 2024 (after the making of the order which is the subject of this committal), F accepted in correspondence between his solicitors and M's solicitors that he had not complied with the paragraphs of the order identified above. It was said on his behalf that he was not able to do so because the grandmother would not assist.”
“20. F’s assertions in that email about his inability to comply must, in my judgment, be seen in the context of the history of this litigation. 21. He has repeatedly confirmed that, regardless of any orders made in this country, he will not return V. In a statement dated24 March 2023 he said: "My son…is very happy now and I will not change his surrounding and I will never take him anywhere…No one can take my son from Algeria except me and I am not going to do it at all". On31 August 2023 , he referred to what he described as V's quality of life in Algeria and said: "I will not facilitate my son's return to the UK if a summary return order is made". In a statement dated5 October 2023 he said that "…when I took my son to Algeria, my intention was for him to live there permanently". He had no intention of permitting him to return, and has fought tooth and nail to prevent a return. In none of these or other statements throughout 2022 and 2023 did he intimate that his mother had the power to determine whether V returned to the UK. On the contrary, on a plain reading of his own words, he considered he held that power himself, regardless of the fact of a Power of Attorney having been granted in his mother's favour. At the final hearing in December 2023 (and, so far as I can tell, at all hearings before then), F did not advance a case that he had no power to secure a return because of his mother's opposition. Even after the final hearing, in a statement dated22 January 2024 , he said nothing about his mother preventing him from complying. 22. The first time he set out his purported inability to effect a return due to his mother's opposition was in a statement dated5 March 2024 in response to the first committal application. His case is that his mother's views supersede his. A short formal letter from his mother attached to that statement asserts legal rights although it does not say in terms that she would not assist F if requested to do so. I have already referred to the trenchant findings made by Sir Jonathan Cohen. 23. The court has made numerous previous orders for return, and must therefore have been satisfied that F could secure such a return. Most recently, Sir Jonathan Cohen made explicit findings to that effect and duly made the return order.”
“26. I do not accept what is submitted on F's behalf as to his inability to comply. I am satisfied from everything I have read and heard, and to the requisite standard of proof, that F, not his mother, has the power and control to take the significant decisions in V's life. I am equally satisfied, to the requisite standard of proof, that such decisions include procuring the return of V to this country, together with ancillary provisions, and the arrangement of indirect contact. I am satisfied that the grandmother does not take these decisions and cannot or would not thwart F if he wanted to comply and ensure a return of V to this country. F deliberately abducted the child to Algeria, and never had any intention to return him. In my judgment, his mother is no more than a cipher for his actions. Insofar as F relies upon the Power of Attorney granted to his mother (which he himself told Sir Jonathan Cohen is now irrelevant), he has chosen not to take the necessary steps to revoke it in the past two and a half years.”
“F says through counsel there are ongoing proceedings in Algeria pursuant to which the Algerian court has prohibited V from leaving the country. So, it is said, that is a logistical and practical hurdle to compliance. The problem is that Sir Jonathan Cohen said there was no evidence of such an order, nor is there any such evidence before me. There is evidence that the grandmother issued proceedings in Algeria on25 December 2023 , but there is not a scrap of evidence that any substantive orders in her favour were made by the Algerian courts (port alert, or the equivalent of s8 orders). The only evidence (contained in the bundle before me) is that the Algerian court dismissed the application on19 May 2024 . In any event, I am satisfied that F is well able to ensure that there are no legal steps to [prevent] V leaving Algeria if he so wishes; the truth is, however, that he does not so wish.”
“I am satisfied that M has discharged the burden on her of establishing to the criminal standard of proof that F has deliberately refused to comply with the order of this court made on15 April 2024 , and that it was at all material times fully within his power to comply. I reject the contention that the grandmother prevents him from so complying.”
“We would like to appeal paragraph 8 of the … order…”