Hague ConventionFranceNorwayGermany

Central Authorities Failed: A Father in Europe Could Not Have His Child Located or Returned

Summary of institutional failures across three countries — no location of the child, return refused or not registered, years of delays.

In short

No authority located the child. France, Norway and Germany did not locate the child; the father had to find her himself in Germany.
Norway refused return. Oslo District Court refused the petition for return under the Hague Convention (2016).
Germany refused to register the return request. The German Central Authority did not want to register the father’s request for return to France; the French authority initially said it was “not competent” for a displacement Norway→Germany.
Years of delay. Central Authorities took months or years to answer; procedures restarted when the child was moved to another country.

Years of delay before meaningful action (e.g. contact with German authority only in 2026).
Initially treated the case as “not competent” for displacement Norway→Germany; father had to insist on return to France.
No location of the child by French authorities.

Oslo District Court refused the petition for return (2016) on Convention grounds (habitual residence, Art. 3, 12, 13, 20).
No location of the child by Norwegian authorities; father had no effective remedy to have the child returned.

Central Authority refused to register the return request (contradiction with visitation, Art. 12 delay, request to withdraw).
German authority “had no trace” of a 2022 return request; assumed return was to Norway, not France.
No location of the child by German authorities; father located the child himself in Frankfurt.

2015Norway2016Return refused (Oslo)2022Child in Germany2026Still no return