N-A (Children), Re

Judgment

Lady Justice Black:

L is 16 years old and will be 17 in May. His younger brother, B, is just turning 14. They live with their father but spend time with their mother as well. On 5 February 2016, Mrs Justice Hogg refused an application by the father for permission to take L and B to live permanently in Iran. The father appeals against that refusal. His grounds of appeal focus upon the judge’s approach to the boys’ wishes and feelings, which it is said were given insufficient weight. They also focus upon a meeting which Hogg J had with the two boys during the course of the hearing, at which the father argues that, contrary to the 2010 Guidelines for Judges Meeting Children who are Subject to Family Proceedings (“the Guidelines ”), the judge gathered evidence from the boys, upon which she relied in determining the case. Furthermore, he argues, she failed to inform the parties of impressions she had formed about the boys during the meeting, so that they could explore them in evidence and submissions.

The father appeared in person before us, assisted by his McKenzie friend, as he did before Hogg J. The mother was also in person before Hogg J and remained in person during the appeal process. She was aware of the appeal hearing but did not attend or provide any written argument addressing the issues which arise on the appeal. We decided to proceed in her absence and I should say a little more about why this was. It is necessary, for this purpose, to set out some of the procedural history of the appeal.

Procedural history of the appeal

The appeal first came on for hearing on 12 October 2016 when, for reasons which I shall explain in due course, it was not possible to proceed with argument. The mother did not attend or provide a written contribution to the appeal on that occasion either. As I set out in a short judgment which I gave on 12 October 2016, she had sent an email to the court just before the appeal hearing, in which she apologised for not attending, gave an explanation for her absence, and said that she was “not 100% sure what the court hearing is fully about”. Part of the purpose of my judgment on 12 October was to explain to the mother what the father’s appeal was about and what consequences it could have for her and to stress how important it was for her to participate in the appeal process. I also urged her to seek assistance in dealing with the appeal, starting probably with the Bar Pro Bono Unit. Whether she pursued that suggestion or