Family barrister Lucy Reed writes judgment on case: Re P (Discharge of Passport Order) [2020] EWHC 3009 (Fam). The proceedings concerned a 2 ½ year old child (pseudonym Maria), whose mother is Bulgarian, and whose father is a dual Bulgarian / British national. The family had lived in England for many years but at the time of the hearing the mother and child were in Bulgaria, the mother having been prohibited from travelling with the child by orders made on the father’s application in Bulgaria.
Through the English proceedings the mother sought assistance from the High Court in order to facilitate her return to the UK with the child. She said the family had been habitually resident her but prevented by the father’s actions from returning, the father said that the family had been habitually resident in Bulgaria, hence his request to the Bulgarian court.