The Northern Ireland Court of Appeal has refused the appeal of a father against the High Court’s refusal to order the return of his three children from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland.
In a judgment delivered on 12th November 2025 the Lady Chief Justice Siobhan Keegan, refused the father’s appeal against the High Court’s refusal to order the return of the children from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland. The Court of Appeal found on the 12th November 2025 that the children should not be returned to the Republic but should remain with their mother in Northern Ireland.
This Court of Appeal decision in the case of OP and GL highlights the importance of seeking prompt legal advice from expert lawyers should children be removed, or their removal be threatened, from the legal jurisdiction in which they live without the permission of the other parent, and the defences open to the parent who leaves a jurisdiction with their children. The Court of Appeal considered the case and the practical operation of the Hague Convention in this case. The Hague Convention is an important international treaty which safeguards the rights of children and ensures the prompt return of a child to their home country if they are illegally abducted. It also sets out specific defences to any application for the return of children.
The successful defence to the appeal was dealt with on behalf of the mother of the children by Paula Collins, Partner in Harte Coyle Collins, an expert in children and family law. A copy of the Court of Appeal judgment in OP & GL is available via the link below. Paula said today;
” This case highlights a situation where the court agreed that all three possible defences available to our client under the Hague Convention were met. Any parent facing the unauthorised removal of children from their care and custody in Northern Ireland by the other parent, or indeed the threat of such removal, should immediately seek legal advice on the protections and safeguards available under the Hague Convention. Once urgent proceedings are launched the court will immediately scrutinise the evidence in the case and conduct the careful balancing exercise to consider the facts”.
20th November 2025
Link to Court of Appeal Judgment
https://www.judiciaryni.uk/files/judiciaryni/2025-11/OP%20and%20GL.pdf
