Child Abduction Legal Information

MAX BLITT, Q.C.

Max Blitt provides legal services in the areas of Real Estate, Family Law, Wills and Estates. Max Blitt has also had extensive experience dealing with the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abductions in additional to international property and support issues. He has personally been involved in assisting clients and legal counsel to recover children that have been abducted by parents and relatives to other Provinces in Canada, the United States, Poland, France, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, Sweden, Italy, South Africa, Turkey, Bulgaria, China, Bangladesh, India, Australia, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Latvia, Lebanon and the United Kingdom. Mr. Blitt holds a Bachelor of Arts (Pre-Law) degree from the University of Calgary, as well as a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Alberta.

Max Blitt has been a Senior Lawyer with Spier Harben since 1993 and has been involved in litigation involving all Court levels up to the Alberta Court of Appeal.

Legal Cases

1. J.M. v I.L.

   The SCC denied leave to appeal this recent Hague Convention case from the New Brunswick Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal provides an analysis of the hybrid approach in determining habitual residence which is a question of mixed fact and law. The Court also approved of the practise of making temporary awards of custody pending the outcome of the Hague case and approves the application of international jurisprudence in deciding Hague case.

   read document

2. Geliedan v. Rawdah

   The Ontario Court of Appeal last week, issued their decision in an interesting abduction case. It involves a 6 year old child. The Mother is a Lebanese born citizen of Lebanon and Canada. The father is a Saudi Arabia born citizen of Saudi Arabia and the UK. The daughter, while born in the UK, is also a Canadian citizen. Parties married in the UK in 2012, and shortly after the child’s birth in 2013, they separated. Parties entered into a Consent Custody Order in 2015 in the UK, which provided that the child’s habitual residence was the UK and that neither party could remove the child from the UK without written consent of the other or court order. The child was to primarily reside with the mother, but the father was to have regular weekly parenting time. Father moved to Dubai in 2015, but continued to exercise parenting time, although not regularly. In 2018 mother stated she visited *Dubai with the child for what was to be a 2 week period-she had return tickets booked. She alleges the father confiscated the child’s and her own passport. About 14 months later the mother surreptitiously removed the passports from the father’s home when he was out of the country. In May 2019 the mother took the child to Toronto via Lebanon. At the lower court the father successfully argued that the child’s Habitual Residence had become Dubai prior to the mother’s wrongful removal to Ontario. The father applied under the Children Law Reform Act [CLRA]. The Ontario statute, unlike Alberta’s Extra Provincial Enforcement of Custody Orders Act [EPECOA], uses terminology like Habitual Residence, whereas the Alberta statute uses ‘real and substantial connection.’ The Court of Appeal criticized the lower court judge’s reference to the Hague Convention’s legal framework, where the U.A.E. is not a Hague Convention signatory [The UK Supreme Court in Re: J. (A Child) (Custody Rights:Jurisdiction) [2005] UKHL 40, per Baroness Hale stated at paragraph 22, “……there is no warrant, either in statute or authority, for the principles of the Hague Convention to be extended to countries which are not parties to it.”]. The Appeal Court held that it was an error for the lower court judge to apply a Hague Convention approach when determining this matter under the CLRA. A critical difference between the CLRA and the Hague Convention, is that if the court finds a wrongful removal or retention, under the Hague Convention, the court must order the return of the child unless a defence applies. The CLRA does not obligate the court to order a return in such circumstances. The Appeal Court also noted that “ [38] When considering whether to return a child to a non-signatory state, there is no basis to assume that the receiving state will determine custody and access based on the child’s best interest…..”There was a dispute as to whether the U.A.E. would apply a best interests approach. In this case the mother was Christian and the father Muslim. The mother’s expert opined that under Sharia law, the parents could be treated very differently in terms of their suitability as a custodial parent. The Appeal Court stated that habitual residence need not have been decided in this case, and that the father’s application be stayed pending his proceeding in the UK court pursuant to the Consent Order for the return of the child to the UK. Only if the UK court declines jurisdiction may the father reapply to the Ontario court.

   read document

Education

• Bachelor of Arts (Pre-Law), University of Calgary, 1973.
• Bachelor of Laws, University of Alberta, 1974.

Certification

• Member of the Law Society of Alberta.
• Appointed Queen’s Counsel of Alberta.

Professional Affiliations

• Canadian Bar Association
• Calgary Bar Association
• Canada Family Mediation Society
• Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (International)
• Member of Alberta Civil Trial Lawyers Association
• Canadian Wildlife Federation Member.
• International Academy of Family Lawyers
• Member International Child Abduction Attorney Network (ICAAN)
• International Bar Association
• UK and Wales Bar Association (International)
• American Bar Association (International)
• UK Reunite Roster Lawyer

Professional Activities/Presentations

• May/June 2007 Washington, D.C. Attended the 44th Annual Conference of Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC); “Judicial Officers Forum:

International Child Abduction” and “International Child Abduction: risk Factors and Prevention.”.

• Panellist, CFCN TV Re: Child Abductions
• Speaker, Child Find Alberta 1989 Conference, Legal Aspects of Child Abduction.
• Canadian Bar Association, Mid-Winter Meeting, Organizing Committee – Legal Aspects of Child Abduction.
• Article contained in Law Now, University of Alberta, International Child Abductions, October/November 2003.
• Speaker, AMECO (Association of Missing and Exploited Children’s Organizations) Case Manager Training Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, December 2003.
• Speaker, Northwest Coalition of Missing Children Investigators and Professionals Symposium, April 2005, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
• Article contained in Law Now, University of Alberta, International Child Abductions, October/November 2003.
• Speaker, AMECO (Association of Missing and Exploited Children’s Organizations) Case Manager Training Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, December 2003.
• Speaker, Northwest Coalition of Missing Children Investigators and Professionals Symposium, April 2005, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
• Speaker, Prairie Regional Our Missing Children Conference, Canada Border Services Agency, Calgary, Alberta, October 2005.
• May/June 2007 Washington, D.C. Attended the 44th Annual Conference of Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC); “Judicial Officers

Forum:International Child Abduction” and “International Child Abduction: Risk Factors and Prevention.”.

• Court Appointed Dispute Resolution Officer with the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta (2006 to present)
• Negotiations / Advocacy Assessment Instructor for the Canadian Centre for Professional Legal Education 2008-Present (Bar Admission Course)
• Ismailis International Mediation Training – Vancouver, BC., September 2009
• Canadian Delegation Speaker (Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade) on Missing and Abducted Children’s Issues in Tokyo, Japan 2009 / 2010
• Vancouver, BC – International Bar Association, Presenter Mock Trial of a full Hague Convention International Child Abduction Case, October 2010
• Law Now Article “Cross-Cultural Mediation,” University of Alberta, January 2011.
• Appointed to the Family Law Advisory Committee of the Law Society of Alberta 2011
• Speaker on Missing and Abducted Children’s Issues in Tokyo, Japan 2009 / 2010
• Member of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) Roundtable Discussions on Developing an International Protocol for Mediating

Cross-Border Disputes

• Article titled “Cross-Border Mediation” in Law Now, University of Alberta, January 2011
• Faculty Member of the Federal / Provincial Canadian Judge’s Conference (National Judicial Institute) in February 2011
• Lecturer in Cape Town, South Africa in March 2011-“Canadian Experience in International Child Abductions”
• Invited to Present to the International Bar Association in Dubai, on the Canadian Perspective on Sharia Law and Enforcement of Orders from Non-Hague Convention

Countries, November 2011

• Alberta Law Conference, Calgary, Alberta – Chair Person regarding the law relating to Internationally and Domestically Abducted Children, January 2012
• Published Paper on the Voice of the Child In Hague Convention Child Abduction cases for the International Bar Association Newsletter, September 2012
• 6th World Congress on Family Law and Children’s Rights, Sydney Australia- Presented on the Voice of the Child in the context of the Hague Convention on the

Civil Aspects of International Child Abductions, March 2013

• Canadian Bar Association Annual Meeting, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-Presenter on the Hague Convention and the Rights of the Child to Legal Representation, August

2013

• Paper for the International Bar Association, Challenges Facing Counsel for Children in the Context of the Hague Convention, September 2013
• Canadian Bar Association Webinar on the Operation of the Hague Convention and the Role of the Child’s Lawyer, May 2014
• Canadian Bar Association Webinar on Child Abduction: Prevention of & Response to National & International Cases, October 2014 (new)
• October 2015 International Academy of Family Lawyer’s Conference in Quebec City, presented ‘Voice of Child’ in the context of the Hague Convention;
• September 2016 Canadian Bar Association and Agha Khan Ismailis Council, Calgary, Joint Presentation on Cultural and Religious Issues in Mediation, Chairperson;

Volunteer Work

• Calgary Women’s Emergency Shelter, Director, Calgary.
• Alberta Mediation Society, Director, Calgary.
• Child Find Alberta, Past-President.
• Child Find Canada, Director.
• Calgary Zoo, Trustee.
• Calgary Zoo Foundation, Past-Chairman.
• Legal Aid Society of Alberta, Appeals Committee.
• Alberta Lawyers’ Assistance Society.
• Calgary Legal Guidance.