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Extending the great safety net
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In
Al-Jeffery v Al-Jeffery (Vulnerable Adult: British Citizen) [2016] EWHC 2151 (Fam) Holman J has confirmed for the first time that the High Court can exercise an inherent protective jurisdiction over a vulnerable British adult on the basis of their nationality even if they are not habitually resident in England and Wales.
The case which was the subject of considerable media attention while it was going on concerned a 21-year-old dual British-Saudi woman who was born and lived in Wales until just before she turned 17 at which point she travelled (in 2012) to Saudi Arabia at the insistence of her Saudi father. She had remained there thereafter and alleged in proceedings brought under the inherent jurisdiction that she was being seriously ill-treated by him including by being kept in caged conditions in his flat and that she was prevented from leaving Saudi Arabia and returning to Wales or England. She also sought a forced marriage protection order although this application was ultimately abandoned during the course of a hearing listed before Holman J to consider what if any jurisdiction he...
Read the full article here.
