The European Court of Human Rights has found that Greece violated Article 8 of the Convention in proceedings concerning the return of two young children from Rhodes to the United States under the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction.
The case was brought by a Greek-American mother and her two children, who had lived in Rhodes since 2020 following the parents’ marital difficulties. The children had been enrolled in school and integrated into local life, while the mother worked as a psychologist. Their father, also a Greek-American national, sought their return to the United States through the Greek courts.
At first instance, the Rhodes Court of First Instance refused the return, citing grave risk of psychological harm, but the Court of Appeal overturned that decision, ordering the children’s return, a ruling later upheld by the Court of Cassation. The children ultimately returned to live with their father in the United States in December 2024.
Before the Strasbourg Court, the applicants argued that the Greek courts had failed to properly examine the risk of harm and had not heard the children’s views. The ECtHR emphasised that, while domestic courts had reviewed extensive evidence and heard witnesses, they did not consider on their own motion whether it was appropriate to hear the children directly or indirectly. Given the conflicting domestic judgments and the significant changes a return would entail, the Court held that the children’s voices should have been considered.
The Court concluded that the Greek courts had not fully discharged their duty to rule out any “grave risk” under Article 13(b) of the Hague Convention. The decision-making process therefore failed to meet the procedural safeguards required by Article 8, and the forced return of the children could not be regarded as necessary in a democratic society. A violation of Article 8 was found.