Professor Rob George KC and Natasha Miller in Re Y (Child Abduction; Habitual Residence; Grave Risk; Ukraine) [2025] EWHC 3123 (Fam)
27th Nov 2025 | Cases
Professor Rob George KC and Natasha Miller, instructed by Serena Sandhu of Osbornes Law, represented the applicant father in Re Y (Child Abduction; Habitual Residence; Grave Risk; Ukraine) [2025] EWHC 3123 (Fam); a 1980 Hague Convention application concerning the return of a young child to Ukraine.
The mother and child came to England with the father’s agreement as part of the Homes for Ukraine scheme following the start of the war. The Court subsequently determined that there had been a wrongful retention and that the mother had retained the child contrary to the father’s rights of custody, but that by the time that happened the child was habitually resident in this country, and so the application was dismissed.
The court further held that in any case, given the particular circumstances in the relevant area of Ukraine, Article 13(b) applied to this case and the return would have placed the child at grave risk of harm. This is an important further example of Ukraine abduction cases and the specific challenges that arise in the context of the ongoing war in that country.
