New conviction by the European Court of Human Rights of the lack of execution of a return decision

In line of the judgment of January 30, 2018, Edina T. v. Hungary, the European Court of Human Rights issued a new judgment on 22 May 2018 condemning Ukraine for failing to ensure the return of a child abducted by his mother from the Czech Republic.

In this case, the parties divorced in 2007, after which the mother, a Ukrainian national, abducted the child in Ukraine, the father being of Czech nationality and the family living in Prague. In 2009, the father had requested the return of the child to the Czech Republic, which the Ukrainian courts had ordered in July 2010. However, this decision was never executed, the Ukrainian courts later considering that it was the best interests of the child to stay in Ukraine where he had adapted so well...

The father has appealed to the European Court of Human Rights alleging a violation of his right to respect for private and family life due to the lack of execution by the Ukrainian authorities of the decision to return the child. The European Court of Human Rights ruled in his favor and sentenced Ukraine to damages for violation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.