Andegiorgis v. Giorgis

On February 27, 2017, the respondent mother left Norway, where the parties had been living since 2014, and came to Canada with the parties’ 6-year-old child without telling the applicant father. The father immediately commenced an application for the return of the child to Norway pursuant to the Hague Convention. The mother argues that the Convention does not apply as the child’s habitual residence is Canada, not Norway, and the father has no custodial rights that would prevent her ability to move. In the alternative, if the Convention is found to apply, the mother argues that the child should not be returned to Norway because doing so would place the child at grave risk of harm, and because the child objects to being returned.