Rights of mother whose child extradited to USA not violated: ECHR

Court proceedings in Cyprus which ordered a woman to hand over her son to be extradited to the US to be with his father in 2017, did not violate the European Convention on Human Rights, an EU court ruled on Tuesday.

The father had won a case in New York where he accused the mother of abducting their child from the US and bringing him to Cyprus.

She had objected to returning the child to New York on the grounds that the father had allegedly carried out acts of domestic violence.

Paphos family court found her allegations unsubstantiated and said there were contradictions in her statements. The father was eventually allowed to take the child back to the US, following a court order.

The mother filed a case to the ECHR, citing the “unreasonable length of the Hague Convention proceedings and the domestic court’s decision to order the child’s return to the USA.”

She said the court had not adequately assessed the situation and risks involved, and as such, breached her rights under Article 8 of the Convention.

Tuesday’s decision on the GK v Cyprus case highlighted that the delay in proceedings “albeit regrettable” were not a disproportionate interference with applicant’s Article 8 rights in the circumstances.

It also ruled that the proceedings were adversarial and fair with due consideration to the child’s best interests.

Consequently, the court unanimously held there was no violation of Article 8.