Written question asked by Lisa Cameron (Scottish National Party) on Monday, 19 April 2021, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 21 April 2021. It was answered by Chris Philp (Conservative) on Tuesday, 27 April 2021 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Asylum: Domestic Abuse

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that parents and children fleeing abusive relationships abroad are protected from having to return to their country of origin under the Hague Convention on Child Abduction.

Answer: When a left-behind parent applies to the court for the return of a child under the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention, and where the taking parent opposes return, the taking parent can bring evidence before the court that there is a grave risk that the child’s return would expose the child to physical or psychological harm or otherwise place the child in an intolerable situation. The decision is for the court on the evidence put in front of it. In such cases, the court will consider evidence of an abusive relationship which has affected the child.

Secondary information