U.S. Supreme Court Interprets "Habitual Residence" Under Hague Convention [1]
On February 25, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its judgment in Monasky v. Taglieri [3], which focused on the meaning of "habitual residence" under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction [4]. The case involved a dispute between the petitioner, a U.S. citizen and her husband, an Italian national, over the habitual residence of their daughter. According to the facts of the case, the petitioner lived with her husband in Italy, where their daughter was born. After alleged abuse by the respondent, the petitioner took her daughter to Ohio. The respondent successfully petitioned for her return to Italy under the Hague Convention, on the ground that Italy is her country of habitual residence. The decision was affirmed on appeal. In its judgment on appeal, the Supreme Court held that the determination of the country of habitual residence under the Convention "depends on the totality of the circumstances specific to the case." The Court dismissed the petitioner's argument that an actual agreement between the parents is necessary, holding that a number of factors are relevant, such as the Convention's text and its context, acclimation of older children, the intentions of the parents, and actual physical presence. The Court further held that the standard of review of first instance determinations of "habitual residence" is one of clear error and that such a determination is a mixed question of fact and law, though the Court qualifies its holding by specifying that it is only just a mixed question in that "the inquiry beings with a legal question," but after that, what remains is to consider factual questions. The Court affirmed, but declined to remand the case for further consideration.