Part II

Recognition and Enforcement of Custody Decisions

Decisions of United Kingdom courts.
23
1
Where a person on whom any rights are conferred by a decision relating to custody made by a court in the United Kingdom makes an application to the Lord Chancellor, the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland or the Secretary of State under Article 4 of the Convention with a view to securing its recognition or enforcement in another Contracting State, the Lord Chancellor, the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland or the Secretary of State may require the court which made the decision to furnish him with all or any of the documents referred to in Article 13(1)(b), (c) and (d) of the Convention.
2
Where in any custody proceedings a court in the United Kingdom makes a decision relating to a child who has been removed from the United Kingdom, the court may also, on an application made by any person for the purposes of Article 12 of the Convention, declare the removal to have been unlawful if it is satisfied that the applicant has an interest in the matter and that the child has been taken from or sent or kept out of the United Kingdom without the consent of the person (or, if more than one, all the persons) having the right to determine the child’s place of residence under the law of the part of the United Kingdom in which the child was habitually resident.
3
In this section “decision relating to custody” has the same meaning as in the Convention.
S. 23 applied (with modifications) (1.3.1997) by S.I. 1996/3156, art. 2, Sch.
S. 23 applied (with modifications) (2.12.1997) by S.I. 1997/2574 art. 2, Sch.
Words in s. 23 inserted (12.4.2010) by The Northern Ireland Act 1998 (Devolution of Policing and Justice Functions) Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/976), art. 1(2), Sch. 18 para. 37 (with arts. 28-31)