In the matter of A (A Child)
- Date: 16/01/2009
2008 EWCA Civ 1138
Related Barrister: Jonathan Cowen
Appeal against an order of Coleridge J committing the appellant to prison for contempt of court in a child abduction case. It was submitted on behalf of the father that the mother did not lay the proper evidential foundation for a finding that the father was in contempt of court and the approach taken by the mother effectively reversed the onus of proof.
The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal and accepted the following propositions made in submissions on behalf of the father:
The contempt which has to be established lies in the disobedience to the order to return rather than inn the original abduction; contempt of court must be proved to the criminal standard and the burden of proof lies at all times on the applicant; contempt of court involves a deliberate disobedience to the order and if the father cannot cause the return of the child he is not in contempt of court; it is not enough to suspect recalcitrance, the contempt has to be proved.
The Court of Appeal went on to state that the contempt can be proved from surrounding evidence.