Source: https://www.incadat.com/en/case/1381
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 06:37:27+00:00

Document:
Madbakeena B.A., Bashkina L.Y., Malshko N.B.
Principle 6, UN Declaration on the Rights of the Child; Art. 3(2), UN Convention on the Rights of the Child; Arts 63, 65, Family Code of the Russian Federation; Art. 38, Constitution of the Russian Federation.
This case forms the subject of an application to the European Court of Human Rights (Thompson v. Russia, Application no. 36048/17), lodged on 15 May 2017 and communicated on 23 October 2017.
Un enfant déplacé illicitement à l’âge de 2 ans – Ressortissant du Royaume-Uni et de la Fédération de Russie – parents mariés – Père ressortissant du Royaume-Uni – Mère ressortissante de Russie – Deux parents titulaires du droit de garde – Enfant résident en Espagne avec ses deux parents jusqu’en avril 2016 – Demande de retour déposée auprès du tribunal de district Dzerzhinskiy de St Pétersbourg le 18 août 2016 – Retour refusé – Principal enjeu : exception de risque grave visée à l’art. 13(1)(b) – Un enfant de trois ans a psychologiquement et physiologiquement besoin de sa mère et, considérant que la mère a décidé de rester en Russie, le retour en Espagne l’exposerait à un risque grave.
Cette affaire fait l’objet d’un requête auprès de la Cour européenne des droits de l’homme (Thompson c. Russie, Requête no 36048/17), introduite le 15 mai 2017 et communiquée le 23 octobre 2017.
The parents are a British father and a Russian mother who were married and who lived and worked in Spain since 2009. The child lived with her parents in Spain from birth (in July 2013) until her mother removed her to Russia in April 2016, without the father's knowledge or consent. The 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention entered into force between Spain and Russia on 1 March 2013. The father applied to the Russian courts for return of the child on 18 August 2016.
On 27 October 2016, the Dzerzhinsky District Court of Saint Petersburg dismissed the father's application on the basis that return would expose the child to a grave risk of harm within the meaning of Art. 13(1)(b) because a child of the age of three needs to be cared for by her mother. The Court relied on Principle 6 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of the Child of 20 November 1959, which states that "a child of tender years" should not be separated from her mother other than in exceptional circumstances, and on the fact that the mother did not intend to return to Spain.
The father appealed this decision, arguing that the Court had applied Art. 13(1)(b) incorrectly and in a way which was was inconsistent with the objectives of the Convention and with the case law of other Contracting States and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The father also pointed out that the Court had ignored his undertakings to provide separate accomodation and support for the mother and the child in Spain, which he argued made it possible for her to return with the child.
Appeal dismissed and return refused. The first instance court had applied the law correctly.
The Court upheld the ruling of the District Court relying on Principle 6 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of the Child of 20 November 1959, which states that "a child of tender years" should not be separated from her mother other than in exceptional circumstances, and on the fact that the mother did not intend to return to Spain. The Court added that since the minor was now settled in the Russian Federation, her retention there was not unlawful. Furthermore, the Court referred to Art. 65 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, which requires that parents exercise their rights in a way which is consistent with the best interests of the child. In its written decision, no reference was made to the foreign case law presented by the father, but during the hearing, one of the judges commented that the arguments based on the case law of the ECtHR were not relevant because the Russian Federation does not have a precedent-based legal system.
O.А. Хазова, 'Принцип 6 Декларации ООН прав ребенка 1959 года в контексте Конвенции о гражданско-правовых аспектах международного похищения детей 1980 года', Труды Института государства и права РАН, Том 12. № 6. С. 202 (O.A. Khazova, 'Principle 6 of the UN 1959 Declaration on the Rights of the Child in the Context of the Hague Convention on Child Abduction 1980', Proceedings of the Institute of State and Law of the RAS, vol. 12, No 6, 2017, p. 202).

References: Art. 3
 Art. 38
 v. 
 Application no. 36048
 Art. 13
 Art. 13
 Art. 65