Published on 27 October 2025
SECOND SECTION
Application no. 38881/23
Péter Balázs FÖRDŐS
against Hungary
lodged on 20 October 2023
communicated on 10 October 2025
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE
The application concerns the impossibility for the applicant to exercise his parental rights.
The applicant and his ex-wife had three children together. During the divorce proceedings that had started in 2014, the wife moved to the United Kingdom (UK) in 2015. Without the consent of the applicant, she took the children with her to the UK.
On 2 February 2016 a British court ordered the return of the children to Hungary. On appeal, the High Court of Justice refused the return of the children in January 2017, in application of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.
On 14 July 2017 the Hungarian Dunaújváros District Court dissolved the parties’ marriage and granted parental responsibility to the applicant. On 21 June 2018 the Szombathely High Court quashed part of the decision for incomplete findings of fact. In the resumed proceedings, the first-instance court attempted to obtain an expert opinion on both parties’ suitability as parents, without success.
On 23 December 2019 the British Brentford Family Court issued a non‑molestation order against the applicant including a ban on communication regarding the applicant’s ex-wife and their children. On 22 January 2020 the Hungarian Dunaújváros District Court granted him contact rights via telecommunication. This decision was upheld by the second instance Hungarian court.
Subsequently, the Department of Private International Law of the Hungarian Ministry of Justice informed the Dunaújváros District Court that the British authorities had requested the transfer of the case to the UK, on the basis of the relevant EU rules.
On 9 March 2021 the Family Court of England and Wales established jurisdiction over the proceedings and merged it to the one already pending before the British courts. It appears that the proceedings are still pending before the UK, but not the Hungarian, authorities.
The applicant complains under Articles 6 and 8 of the Convention that the Hungarian authorities’ protracted and ineffective procedure amounted to a failure to respect their procedural obligations under the Convention. This resulted in parental alienation in that he lost contact with his children since 2016.
QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES
1. Has there been a violation of the applicant’s right to respect for family life, contrary to Article 8 of the Convention, in the procedure before the Hungarian courts? In particular, have the authorities observed their positive obligations under Article 8 to ensure that the applicant could properly exercise his parental rights (see Prizzia v. Hungary, no. 20255/12, §§ 33-38, 11 June 2013; Cavani v. Hungary, no. 5493/13, §§ 48-53, 28 October 2014; Ónodi v. Hungary, no. 38647/09, §§ 29-33, 30 May 2017; Popadić v. Serbia, no. 7833/12, §§ 82-85, 20 September 2022; and Veres v. Spain, no. 57906/18, §§ 76-79, 8 November 2022)?
2. The parties are invited to inform the Court about any new developments in the case, notably about any decisions issued by the authorities in Hungary, and to submit copies thereof.