The Court of Appeal has ordered the return of a child to Croatia by 15 April 2026 at noon, dismissing on all 13 grounds a mother’s appeal against a ruling that she had unlawfully removed the child from its country of habitual residence.
The case was brought under the 1980 Hague Convention on International Child Abduction. The Nicosia Family Court issued the original return order on 23 December 2025, finding that the mother had violated the father’s custody rights by bringing the child to Cyprus without his consent. The Court of Appeal upheld that decision in full.
The child was born in Cyprus in November 2023 due to pregnancy complications. Six weeks later, the family moved to Croatia, where they settled permanently. From the age of 45 days, the child lived in Zagreb with both parents, was registered at the father’s address, was seen by a paediatrician there, was integrated into daily family life and was baptised in Zagreb with both parents’ consent.
The couple’s relationship broke down in summer 2024. The mother says that by January 2025 there was an agreement for her to return to Cyprus with the child, and she enrolled the child in a nursery school in Cyprus in February 2025. The father disputes this account entirely.
Events came to a head in March 2025. The father applied to a Croatian court on 11 March for an exit prohibition order and notified the mother of his explicit objection on 14 March. Despite this, the mother attempted to leave with the child on 16 March but did not board the flight. Two days later, on 18 March, she and the child travelled to Cyprus without the father’s knowledge. She maintains the trip was made with his consent.
The first instance court rejected the mother’s claim that the family’s stay in Croatia had been temporary. It found Croatia to be the child’s habitual residence and ruled that the mother’s unilateral removal violated the father’s custody rights, which were being exercised jointly at the time.
The Court of Appeal upheld those conclusions. It accepted the testimony of the Croatian Central Authority as part of the Hague Convention procedure and found that the determining factor was the child’s actual life in Croatia rather than the parents’ intentions. It concluded that no clear and valid consent from the father had been demonstrated, pointing in particular to his court application of 11 March 2025 as evidence of his explicit objection.
The child must be returned to Croatia by 15 April 2026 at noon. The mother may accompany the child and is required to notify the relevant authorities of the new address in Zagreb. No order was made as to costs.