The G.K. Case. v Cyprus: The standards set by the ECHR and the Hague Convention were correctly applied, says the ECtHR
The right to respect for private and family life was not violated in any way by the Republic of Cyprus, with the findings of the Cypriot Courts being well reasoned and detailed, states, inter alia, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in a judgment issued and published today, in relation to a case of abduction of a minor by his mother (the Applicant) and his unlawful transfer from New York, where he was a permanent resident, to Cyprus in October 2017.
In reaching the above conclusion, the ECtHR upheld the Republic of Cyprus, represented by the Legal Service, in the individual application filed in relation to the case in question (the G.K. case). v Cyprus), noting at the same time that the standards set by both the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Hague Convention) were correctly applied.
In particular, the case was brought before the ECtHR when the Second Family Court dismissed the mother's appeal against the decision of the Paphos Family Court, which, on the basis of the Hague Convention, ordered the return of the minor to his place of habitual residence, namely the United States.
On 29 January 2021, the Paphos Family Court considered and rejected all the defences raised by the mother and in particular whether the minor was removed with the consent or acquiescence of the father (Article 13(a) of the Hague Convention), whether he or she has adapted to his or her new environment in Cyprus (Article 12(2) of the Hague Convention), or whether his or her return would cause serious danger to the child and would expose him or her to physical or mental distress or an intolerable situation (Article 13(1)(b) of the Hague Convention). Subsequently, and in particular on 19 March 2021, the Second Family Court upheld the decision of the trial court dismissing the mother's appeal.
The subject of the applicant's application to the ECHR was the alleged failure of the Republic to comply with its positive obligations under Article 8 of the ECHR, namely the right to respect for private and family life. Before the ECtHR, the Applicant complained in particular that, the right to privacy and family life of both herself and her minor child were violated because the domestic courts allegedly failed to apply the standards of the Hague Convention and the ECHR satisfactorily. She also complained that the national courts failed to adequately assess the overall situation and risks, as well as the length of the national proceedings.
Through today's judgment, the ECtHR rejected all of the Applicant's complaints and concluded that Article 8 of the ECHR had not been violated in any way by the Republic. In essence, the ECtHR accepted the Republic's position that the findings of both the Paphos Family Court and the Second Family Court were well reasoned and detailed, noting that the standards set by both the ECHR and the Hague Convention were correctly applied. This is because, according to the ECtHR, the Paphos Family Court ordered the return of the minor to the United States, after giving the Applicant's side the opportunity to cross-examine the minor's father and, based on all the evidence before it and the facts of the case, took into account all the arguments of the parties and issued a fully reasoned decision, protecting the interests of the minor and ruling out the possibility of any harm to him. In relation to the issue of the delay in the proceedings at first instance, although the ECtHR acknowledged that it was long (as the Second Family Court itself had previously acknowledged), it accepted the Republic's position that the applicant's right to family life had not been disproportionately affected by such a delay.
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