Opinion ID: 76527
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: A Ne Exeat Right Can Be Exercised Without Wrongful Removal

Text: 102 The Croll majority's conclusion was equally informed by its reasoning that the ne exeat clause did not create a right that Mr. Croll could have exercised absent Christina's removal, as required for return under Article 3 of the Convention. Accordingly, the Croll majority concluded that the rights created by the ne exeat clause could not constitute rights of custody under the Convention. Croll, 229 F.3d at 140. 103 The problem with the majority's reasoning, in our view, is that it incorrectly assumes that a ne exeat right could be exercised only to prevent a wrongful removal; it ignores the situation in which the custodial parent complies with the ne exeat clause and requests the non-custodial parent's consent to move abroad with the child. Here, for example, if Defendant Reeves had sought Plaintiff Furnes's consent to Jessica's moving abroad — as she was required by Norwegian law to do prior to relocating — Furnes would have had the opportunity to exercise his ne exeat right by granting or withholding consent. Accordingly, the ne exeat right is capable of being exercised in the absence of wrongful removal. Indeed, it is likely that Plaintiff Furnes would have exercised his ne exeat rights in the absence of the wrongful removal.