Family law

The decision of the Supreme Court in Re E (children) (wrongful return) [2011] 4 All ER 517 had been a restatement, not an evolution, of the law of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Supreme Court had simply applied the autonomous law of the Convention. It had not been operating in its more usual role of settling the domestic law of the United Kingdom. The judge had therefore erred to the extent he had considered Re E to have effectively introduced a lower standard for the mother advancing a defence under art 13(b) of the Convention.