J.S. v. S.S.

" 'rights of custody' shall include rights relating to the care of the person of the child and, in particular, the right to determine the child's place of residence".

I was referred, by counsel for the petitioner, to 6/4 of process. That is a copy of a letter dated 27 July 2002 addressed to the Scottish Executive's Justice Department, from a senior legal officer of the International Family Law section of the Attorney General's Department of Australia. In that letter it is stated, among other things, as follows:

"I attach a new application under the Hague Convention from J.S. seeking the return to Australia of his daughters, C. and A.. As you will see from the application, the parents are married and no orders have been made. Accordingly, under Australian law, both parents retain parental responsibility for the children. Parental responsibility, which encompasses the Convention concept of rights of custody in Western Australia, is governed by sections 68 and 69 of the Family Court Act 1997 (W.A.).

'68. In this part, "parental responsibility", in relation to a child, means all the duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which, by law, parents have in relation to children.'

'69(1) Each of the parents of a child who is not 18 has parental responsibility for the child.