The Court of Appeal has clarified the law in relation to internal relocation, that is when one parent seeks to move with their child to another part of the United Kingdom, and the other parent objects.
The existing law had suggested that a left-behind parent might have to demonstrate 'exceptional circumstances' in order to prevent a move, a test which does not apply in international cases. In dismissing the father's appeal, the Court of Appeal confirmed that there is no distinction between the two 'categories' of case, and that the only principle to be applied in either situation is that the child's welfare is paramount.
Giving the lead judgment in Re C (Internal relocation) [2015] EWCA Civ 1305, Lady Justice Black said: "There is no doubt that it is the welfare principle in section 1(1) of the [Children Act 1989] which dictates the result in internal relocation cases, just as it is now acknowledged that it does in external relocation cases… I would not interpret the cases as imposing a supplementary requirement of exceptionality in internal relocation cases."
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