Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of the recourse available through the family courts where a child has been abducted from the UK to an EU Member State which is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention, now that the Brussels II Regulation no longer applies.

Applications for the return of a child wrongfully removed or wrongfully retained away from the UK are made to the court in the country where the child has been taken or retained. All EU member states are party to the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention and the UK continues to operate the Convention with them through the Central Authorities which transmit applications. This position was not changed by the UK’s exit from the EU.