Martha Gray in Re A (Article 13b, Ukraine) [2023] EWHC 3524 (Fam)
23rd May 2024 | Cases
Martha Gray, instructed by Russell Cooke Solicitors, represented the applicant father in Re A (Article 13b, Ukraine) a child abduction case concerning the wrongful removal of a child from Ukraine in which she was successful in achieving the return of the child to Ukraine.
During the proceedings the respondent mother sought to raise an Article 13(b) defence relying on the war in Ukraine and domestic abuse during the course of the parties’ marriage.
While Mr Justice Keehan acknowledged that the war exists, he accepted Martha’s arguments that where they lived was not affected by the war to a degree that it would limit the ordering of return. In respect of the alleged domestic abuse, taking it at its highest, he considered the protective measures offered by the father ameliorated the risk of harm to the mother and the child so that the case no longer crossed the high bar of article 13b.
