HINCKER & ASSOCIES law firm has organized a Press Conference on Monday 20 June 2011, from 11:00 to 12:30, at

Club de la Presse à Strasbourg
10 Place Kléber
67000 Strasbourg

Concerning the legal case Leslie SHAW vs. HUNGARY (n° 6457/10, pending before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and the European Commission) further to the international abduction of his daughter Fiona Shaw by her mother to Hungary in December 2007 and the non-enforcement of decisions ordering the immediate return of the child to France.

Despite several French court judgements that have unequivocally fixed the domicile of the child in France and despite definitive Hungarian judgements ordering her immediate return to France, the father has not seen his daughter since December 2007, the child having been taken into hiding, and has been forced to confront the obstructionism of the Hungarian legal system in the resolution of the case.

Dr. Leslie Shaw accuses Hungary of collusion in the abduction and illegal retention of his only child and intends to draw the attention of public opinion and the European institutions to the problem, given that it is undoubtedly a matter not only of the application of justice, but a major political issue.

What is the current state of affairs with respect to the implementation of international and European law on international parental abduction ? What are the controls on judicial performance and compliance by EU Member States ? Where do the responsibilities lie ?

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Speakers at the press conference :

- Dr. Leslie Shaw, Associate Professor at ESCP Europe Business School (Paris-Berlin-Madrid-Londons-Turin)
- Mr. Laurent Hincker, attorney at law at the bars of Strasbourg and Paris, specialising in European Union and human rights law
- Mr. Grégory Thuan, former court referendary at the European Court of Human Rights, expert consultant to the Council of Europe.

 MAIN FACTS OF THE CASE

Dr. Leslie James Shaw, an Irish citizen resident in Paris since 1984, married Ms. Krisztina Orosz, a Hungarian citizen, in 1999.

Fiona was born on 25 October 2000. The couple separated in 2003. A divorce judgement was handed down by the Paris Family Court in 2005. Joint custody was ordered but the mother continually hindered the application of the decision and decided to take the child to Hungary on 28 December 2007. Since that date, Dr. Shaw has not seen his young daughter.

Following the abduction of Fiona and in application of the Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 and EU Regulation 2201/2003, Dr. Shaw obtained from the Hungarian courts an order for the immediate return of Fiona to France, her place of habitual residence. This definitive order has not been enforced to this day.

While the French courts fixed the residence of Fiona in France at her father’s domicile and granted him sole parental authority (definitive judgement of the Créteil Family Court of 14 April 2008) and issued a Certificate enabling him to exercise his parental rights (including visiting rights) in Hungary (Paris High Court certificate of 15 April 2008), the Hungarian authorities systematically refused to recognize and enforce these decisions, thereby contravening the principle of mutual recognition of legal judgements.

In the framework of a criminal investigation for child abduction, in 2009 a French investigating magistrate issued a European Arrest Warrant for Krisztina Orosz. She was arrested on 27 July 2009 and released the following day, without Dr. Shaw being notified and with no concern being shown for the child’s welfare. Similarly, the Hungarian authorities refused to execute two international letters rogatory issued by the French magistrate requesting the Hungarian authorities to locate the mother and child.

In January 2009 Dr. Shaw took the case to the European Commission and the European Court of Human Rights, where proceedings are pending.

Furthermore, Dr. Shaw made representations to several French political leaders including Mr. Bernard Kouchner (former Minister for Foreign Affairs), Ms. Michèle Alliot-Marie (former Minister for Justice and Minister for Foreign Affairs), Mr. Michel Mercier (Minister for Justice) and Mr. Alain Juppé (Minister for Foreign Affairs).
 
Finally, in parallel with the judicial proceedings, Dr. Shaw has made representations via his legal team in Strasbourg to members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg and the European Parliament, given the serious breaches in the application of European law that call into question the authority of the institutional framework of the European Union in the areas of free movement of persons and mutual recognition of court judgements.