Source: http://www.familylawweek.co.uk/site.aspx?i=ed134751
Timestamp: 2018-02-20 19:24:28
Document Index: 484488787

Matched Legal Cases: ['UKSC ', 'CJEU ', 'UKSC ', 'CJEU ', '§26', 'UKSC ', '§35']

Family Law Week: London Borough of Barking & Dagenham v SS [2014] EWHC 3338
The case concerned SS, a Romanian by birth, and Roma by background and culture. She was believed to be 15 years old. SS had lived most of her life in Spain with her mother and five siblings until December 2012 when she was the victim of child trafficking as she was 'sold' by her mother to a Roma man. SS was brought to England by him and experienced physical and sexual abuse and was also forced to undertake criminal activities for him. SS came to the attention of the police on a number of occasions and was initially remanded by the Youth Court to the care of the local authority. Care proceedings were instituted which were followed with proceedings for a Secure Accommodation Order. The Secure Accommodation Order expired in July 2014 and SS was placed with foster carers. At the time of the hearing SS was very settled and wished to remain in this placement.
The local authority applied for a Care Order on 29 April 2014. Cobb J considered the jurisdiction of the court to make orders in respect of SS and he concluded that SS was habitually resident in England at the time the court was seised thereby founding jurisdiction under Article 8 Council Regulation 2201/2003 ('BIIR'). Cobb J was satisfied that even if SS was not habitually resident in this jurisdiction on that date, she was not habitually resident in either Spain or Romania but physically present here on 29 April 2014 thereby founding jurisdiction on an alternative basis, namely under Article 13 of BIIR. Finally, Cobb J accepted that while SS had connections with Spain and Romania, the courts of this country were better placed to hear the case, and it was in the best interests of SS that the courts here should determine her future in accordance with Article 15 of BIIR. It is noted that the Romanian authorities did not actively seek a transfer of the proceedings.
In reaching his conclusions Cobb J considered the factual issue of the degree of integration by SS into a social family environment (Re A (Jurisdiction: Return of Child). He also accepted that SS's own perception of habitual residence was a relevant factor (Re LC (Reunite: International Child Abduction Centre Intervening) [2014] UKSC 1). Cobb J expressed little doubt that by October 2014 (the date of the hearing) SS was habitually resident in England. The position was not so clear in respect of the date the application was issued (April 2014). Cobb J acknowledged that the position of SS at this time was precarious; she was a trafficked child; upon arrival she probably had no automatic right to reside here; she had no permanent or settled home as such, and she lived a life largely as an outlaw. However, Cobb J identified sufficient factors pointing to establish a sufficient degree of integration; the fact SS had been in this country for at least 14 months; by April 2014 as a Romanian national and she was lawfully here; she had ceased to be looked after or taken care of by her family; she had obtained work and had a social network and by April 2014 SS 'perceived' England as her home, and showed every sign of wanting to remain in this jurisdiction.
Interestingly, Cobb J highlighted that the mere fact that SS had lived on the fringes of society did not mean that she was not a member of that society and could not acquire habitual residence in the country in which she had settled and made her home.
London Borough of Barking & Dagenham Applicant
(By her Guardian, Trudy Jordan) Respondent
2. On 29 April 2014, the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham ("the Local Authority") applied for a care order in respect of SS. The proceedings were allocated to Her Honour Judge Sapnara at the East London Family Court, but were subsequently transferred to the High Court for a determination of two inter-related jurisdiction questions, appropriately raised (see Re K (A Child) [2014] 1 FLR 749) as preliminary issues.
i) I had reached the conclusion on the facts that SS was, on the balance of probabilities, habitually resident in England at the time the court was seised (29 April 2014) thereby founding jurisdiction under Article 8 Council Regulation 2201/2003 ('BIIR'); see, in relation to this, [36-37] below;
6. For the purposes of determining these jurisdiction questions, I received statements of evidence from the Local Authority and from SS; I was provided with a transcript of an interview conducted with SS (on 25 June 2014) under the 'Achieving Best Evidence' Guidance (2011), and the notes of another such interview (8 July 2014); I was able to review exchanges of correspondence passing between the Central Authorities of the relevant countries, and had access to various police records. At the outset of the hearing, SS requested to meet with me; I discussed with counsel the arrangements for and purpose of such a meeting in accordance with the Guidelines for Judges Meeting Children subject to Family Proceedings (April 2010); once we were all agreed as to the format and timing of the meeting, I spoke with SS, in the presence of her guardian with a lawyer's representative making a note. The meeting took place before the substantive hearing got underway. SS then stayed for part of the hearing, to hear legal argument.
7. The principal evidential source for the background history is SS herself. She has given her account to social workers, informally and through ABE interviews, also to her guardian and police; she has further set it out in summary in a statement to the court. I have of course exercised caution when reviewing her version of events, given that (a) there are reasons why she may choose to give a false account of her history, and in any event (b) English is (after Romanian and Spanish) her third language. I have particularly looked for internal consistency within her accounts and have searched for independent corroboration from within the documents generated by the official and public bodies which have knowledge of SS and her life. The following account is, on the evidence currently available, the most reliable 'working account' of SS's life.
8. SS was born in Romania. Her birth was registered on 10 May 1999. Her Birth Certificate records her birth as 5 May 1998 but the manuscript entry of the year '1998' gives a strong impression of having been altered. Other records (including from Romanian and Spanish social services, and the school in Spain which SS briefly attended) disclose her year of birth as 1999. Given that the registration of birth clearly took place in 1999, I consider it more likely (on the current evidence) that she was in fact born in 1999, making her 15 years old now.
9. SS is the middle of five children born to her mother ("MD") and father ("SO"); she has two older brothers, and two younger sisters. She also has half-siblings. SS was raised for her early life by her paternal grandmother while her mother and father lived in Spain. When SS was approximately three or four years old, her father died. At or about that time, her mother returned to Romania and removed SS and her siblings to Spain; while in Spain the mother entered into a new relationship with a man ("ME") who physically abused SS and some years later attempted to sexually abuse her. SS lived in Spain for approximately 8-10 years, apart from one or two short return trips to Romania, possibly in 2010, when repatriated by the Spanish authorities &/or shortly before SS left Spain for the last time, in order to renew her passport. It is reported (by a social worker in Spain who for a time had responsibility for the family) that the family had lived in a squat in the outskirts of Madrid, which was "not fit for habitation" (per SS's teacher in Spain) and plainly in very poor circumstances. For a period of time (possibly three months) the sibling group was received into institutional care in Spain given the significant concerns about their "neglectful" (per Spanish social worker) upbringing by their mother.
10. In or about December 2012, when SS was approximately 13 years old, her mother 'sold' her to a young Roma man ("DW"), and almost immediately he brought her from Spain, via Paris ("for a few months"), to England. It is not clear from the accounts which I have received precisely when SS arrived here, but I infer from all that I have read that this was in early 2013 (SS says February/March 2013 in her 8 July 2014 interview, which tallies with her more recent witness statement). SS and DW initially moved in with extended members of DW's family. SS maintains that she was repeatedly raped and abused by DW; she further alleges that he forced her to steal for him. DW is reportedly being investigated by the police in relation to these alleged offences. SS has described how she then formed a relationship with an 18 or 19 year old young man ("AX") whom she met in London; she left DW and went to live with AX (and his cousin) for a period of time (unspecified).
12. There is some (at present unconfirmed) suggestion that SS was apprehended by the police during 2013: a reference on the Metropolitan Police Merlin database contains details of her "aggressively begging" in Central London in July 2013. She is said to have received a police caution at one time (although the police have not produced any record of this, it may be that SS gave false identification details at that time – she admits to having done this when finally apprehended). She was arrested on 22 November 2013, and charged with being involved in the stealing of mobile telephones. At that time, she told the Young Offenders Team worker that she did not want to return to the address where she lived, as she was being forced (it is unclear whether this was by DW or AX) to offend every day. She was initially remanded by the Youth Court to the care of the local authority, but absconded from her foster placement (allegedly stealing the foster mother's phone as she left) after only a few days. She evaded detection for several months, being finally apprehended (for alleged fare evasion) by the Transport Police in April 2014. Care proceedings were then launched, as were proceedings for a Secure Accommodation Order. While the jurisdictional issues with which I am concerned remained unresolved, the Family Court exercised its powers (notionally under Article 20 of BIIR) to make interim care and secure accommodation orders.
13. When interviewed at the time of her final arrest in April 2014, SS initially stated that she had enjoyed her independence, informing the Youth Court worker that she had been working long hours in a restaurant (probably unlawfully, given her age) and had used her earnings to support herself. She said that she wanted to continue working and enjoying her independent life, and wished to return to her life with her boyfriend (AX). She was clear that she did not wish to return to Spain or to her mother given that her mother had forced her into 'marriage' with DW.
14. Notwithstanding her stated wishes, SS consented to the secure accommodation order, and co-operated with the police into their enquiry relating to potential trafficking offences. Indeed, during the period of the secure accommodation order, appeared to thrive in the structured environment, forged relationships with the staff and residents, and enjoyed the education on offer; she described herself as 'being in a family', and her self-esteem was observed to grow. When the secure accommodation order expired in July 2014, SS was placed with foster carers where she remains.
15. Information from the Romanian authorities suggests that SS's siblings have now been repatriated to Romania, but I am told that SS's mother, MD, is still living in Spain. Although the Romanian authorities are aware of MD's whereabouts, the Local Authority here does not, and she has so far not been served with these proceedings. The Romanian authorities report that the mother wishes SS to be returned to her.
18. SS told me herself that her foster mother is "a good woman … she shows me all her love"; she told me that "I love her more than my mum". SS told the recent Child in Care Review (30 September 2014) that she would "kill herself" or "run away" if she were forced to return to Romania, Spain and/or the care of her mother or any family member.
19. Article 1(2)(d) of Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 ("BIIR") provides that the scope of the regulation relating to "the attribution, exercise, delegation, restriction or termination of parental responsibility" includes public law proceedings and in particular "the placement of a child in a foster family or institutional care". In the circumstances, and for the purposes of determining jurisdiction under BIIR, I must first consider (for the purposes of Article 8 ibid.) the issue of habitual residence.
21. Note that the question of habitual residence has to be assessed "at the time the court is seised", which in the instant case is 29 April 2014.
22. The term 'habitual residence' under BIIR corresponds to the place which reflects some degree of integration by a child in a social and family environment; the CJEU described it thus in Mercredi v Chaffe [2011] 1 FLR 1293, as follows:
28. These authorities make clear the importance of the factual enquiry with the focus on the 'integration' of the child. In relation to an adolescent child, or mature child (as here), there is a further consideration – namely the child's own perception of habitual residence. In this respect, the Supreme Court in Re LC (Reunite: International Child Abduction Centre Intervening) [2014] UKSC 1 [2014] 1 FLR 1486 specifically considered whether the court, in making the habitual residence determination in relation to an adolescent child who has resided, particularly if only for a short time, in a place under the care of one of her parents, may have regard to her own state of mind during her period of residence there in relation to the nature and quality of that residence. The Supreme Court answered this question unanimously in the affirmative, with Lord Wilson (speaking for the majority) explaining at [37]:
29. Baroness Hale and Lord Sumption in the same case considered that Lord Wilson's approach could be extended to younger children.
32. Assessing SS's habitual residence now, that is to say at the date of this hearing, has been relatively straightforward. Since April 2014 she has had a settled, structured life in the care of the local authority; in July 2014 she moved into a foster home where she gives every impression of being 'at home'. She appears to have formed a trusting and loving relationship with a foster carer who she refers to as "Mum" and who she believes loves and cares for her as a mother. She enjoys the family life of her foster home (there are three younger foster children). She has tentatively embarked on education here, aspiring to develop her artistic skills; she has a few friends here. She perceives England as her home, and plainly, indeed emphatically, wishes to remain here, having made this clear to all. In these circumstances, she has in my judgment acquired the relevant degree of integration into life here in England now as to justify a finding that she is habitually resident here.
34. On the evidence available, it is more difficult to conclude with confidence that SS was 'habitually resident' in England as at 29 April 2014. There is no doubt that she had not integrated into life here in the conventional or traditional sense in which a 15-year old child may be expected to, as contemplated the CJEU in Mercredi and the Supreme Court in Re LC. Not for SS were the routines of a school curriculum, family life with a parent or parents, a social network of like-minded peers, stimulating extra-curricular pastimes. SS's situation does not readily fall to be considered as "integration …in a social and family environment" as may more generally be contemplated or understood for a child of her age. The hand-to-mouth existence which characterised SS's life here in the 14 months or so prior to April 2014 does not give a strong impression of 'stability'; I acknowledge "that the fact that the child's residence is precarious may prevent it from acquiring the necessary quality of stability" (see Supreme Court judgment at §26 in Re KL (Abduction: Habitual Residence: Inherent Jurisdiction) [2013] UKSC 75, [2014] 1 FLR 772).
36. But that does not in my judgment, mean that she has not acquired a habitual residence in this jurisdiction as at the date the court was seised. Even though her daily life had features which were undoubtedly 'precarious', I find as a matter of fact that there are sufficient factors pointing the other way to establish a sufficient degree of integration, most notably (and taken in combination):
iii) She had, by April 2014, ceased to be "looked after or taken care of" by her family (see Mercredi v Chaffe [54], paragraph [22] above); she was living a quasi-adult (and in that sense at least, independent) life. Indeed, she told the police (ABE interview) that she used to feel she "was about a 25-year old woman", by which I infer she felt that her life experiences were more consistent with an adult;
vii) Although SS's mother (the only person with parental responsibility for SS) was/is probably habitually resident in Spain, SS's mother had (on my finding) 'sold' her daughter, and had effectively ceased to exercise any parental responsibility for her. SS's mother appears to have accepted that her daughter would be travelling abroad, and so far as I can tell, believed this to be indefinite;
ix) SS appears by April 2014 to have 'perceived' England as her home, and showed every sign of wanting to remain in this jurisdiction. Although she had been trafficked here, and abused, when she separated from the man who had trafficked her to this country, she nonetheless remained here. At no time has she intimated that she wanted to leave; I am satisfied that she perceived that England had become her 'home'.
37. The fact that SS's life was in many respects unconventional, occasionally lawless and generally unstructured did not mean that she had not in her own way – and to a significant degree – integrated into that society in which she lived in England. That someone lives on the fringes of society (as SS had done here in the 14 months or so prior to April 2014) does not mean, in my judgment, that they are not members of that society. Nor does it therefore mean that they cannot acquire habitual residence in the country in which they have settled and made their home.
ii) her mother had not just abandoned her, but 'sold' her to a trafficker, thereby abrogating her responsibility for her;
44. I am satisfied that although SS has a clear and 'particular connection' with Spain and Romania, neither State is even as well placed, let alone 'better' placed to hear the case than the Courts of England and Wales. It is, on the information available to me, more than ten years since SS lived in Romania. Her enduring connection with Spain is limited to the physical presence of her mother there – yet SS wishes to have no contact with her mother for reasons I well understand.
46. In line with the President's direction in Re E (supra; see §35), I therefore confirm explicitly by way of conclusion:
ii) That while SS has connections with Spain and Romania, I am not satisfied that the courts of either State would be better placed to determine SS's future, and it would not be in her interests that I should transfer the proceedings (particularly given my finding about her current habitual residence). In any event, at this hearing no party actually agrees to such transfer.