After the court has issued a decision ordering the return of a child, the return decision should be swiftly enforced, namely, the child should be returned to his/her initial state of residence as soon as possible.
Enforcement procedure of the return decision
After the court has issued a decision ordering the return of a child, he/she should be swiftly returned to the initial state of residence. The procedure for enforcement of such a decision is different in every state. In Latvia, the enforcement procedure for a child’s return from Latvia to the state of his/her previous residence is prescribed in the Civil Procedure Law.
note This section does not cover all the aspects of the enforcement procedure, but only gives an insight into the most significant aspects of the enforcement procedure as prescribed by the Latvian law.
Enforcement measures
If a parent who has wrongfully removed a child to Latvia from another state does not obey an order to return the child, the competent authorities and courts should, in due time, apply enforcement measures which are sufficient for securing the child’s return.
If the whereabouts of the child are unknown, the police should do everything possible to locate the child as soon as possible. Authorities can apply enforcement measures provided in the Civil Procedure Law such as a fine and the forced separation of a child from the parent who has failed to return the child. In such a situation, the child may be delivered immediately to the other parent or placed in a crisis centre or in safe conditions elsewhere until the child can be delivered to the respective parent.
The officials involved must apply the most effective and, at the same time, the least restrictive enforcement measure, and should try to do everything possible to ensure the well-being of the child throughout the entire enforcement procedure.
example The officials who have come after the child should firstly try to persuade the parent who has wrongfully removed the child to return him/her voluntarily before forcefully taking the child from the parent’s hands.
Refusal or suspension of enforcement
A parent who has been ordered to return a child may submit an application to the court and ask to refuse or suspend the enforcement of a return decision. He/she can only make such a request if certain important conditions set out in the Civil Procedure Law have changed since the return decision was made.
The important conditions which may have changed are:
- the state of the child’s health or psychological conditions which make it impossible to return him/her
- at least one year has passed since the return decision was made and the child now objects to his/her return, and these objections are certified by a psychologist appointed by the Orphan’s Court
- at least one year has passed since the return decision was made and the parent who requested the child’s return has not demonstrated any interest in the renewal of relations with the child