14 April 2011
Eliassen and another v Eliassen [2011] EWCA Civ 361, [2011] All ER (D) 16 (Apr)
It was questionable whether the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) could contribute to the interpretation of the Hague Convention. That was the function of the courts that applied the Convention when deciding applications for return orders.
The function of the European Court was only to consider whether the national courts, in exercising that function, had violated any of the rights guaranteed by the EctHR.
