| Applicant name | G.K. |
| Applicant type | natural person |
| Number of applicants | 1 |
| Country | Cyprus |
| Application no. | 16205/21 |
| Date | 21/02/2023 |
| Judges | Pere Pastor Vilanova, President, Yonko Grozev, Darian Pavli, Peeter Roosma, Ioannis Ktistakis, Andreas Zünd |
| Institution | Court |
| Type | Judgment |
| Outcome Art. 8 | No violation |
| Reason | Positive obligation |
| Type of privacy | Relational privacy; procedural privacy |
| Keywords | Custody; decision making process |
| Facts of the case | The case concerns the alleged violation of the applicant’s right to family life under Article 8 of the Convention following an order by the Cypriot courts to return her son to the United States of America under the Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (“the Hague Convention”). |
| Analysis | it cannot be said that the domestic courts automatically or mechanically ordered the return of the child. On the contrary, in adversarial and fair proceedings, where the applicant had the opportunity to cross-examine the father and based on the evidence in their possession and the relevant facts of the case, the domestic courts duly considered all the arguments of the parties and rendered detailed decisions which, in their view, safeguarded the best interests of the child and ruled out any serious risk to him. The decision-making process before the domestic authorities as a whole did not run contrary to the procedural requirements inherent in Article 8 of the Convention, and the applicant did not suffer a disproportionate interference with her right to respect for her family life. |
| Other Article violation? | – |
| Damage awarded | – |
| Documents | Judgment |