The applicant father brought a motion under the Hague Convention for the return of his four-year-old daughter to the Azores, Portugal.
The respondent mother had travelled to Canada with the child for a temporary visit but refused to return, remaining in Canada with her new partner.
The court found that the child's habitual residence was Portugal, the father possessed and exercised rights of custody through his joint decision-making authority over overseas travel, and he had not acquiesced to the retention.
The court rejected the mother's defence that returning the child posed a grave risk of harm due to alleged domestic violence, finding her evidence lacked credibility and did not meet the stringent threshold.
The child was ordered returned to Portugal.
