ECtHR Refers Finnish-Russian Child Abduction Case to Grand Chamber
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg will rule on the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention in its Grand Chamber. Image credit: ECHR-CEDH Council of Europe.
The European Court of Human Rights has accepted the referral of Z and Others v. Finland (no. 42758/23) to the Grand Chamber. The case concerns a Russian father who abducted his sons from their mother in Russia to Finland in 2022. As has previously been reported for the blog (see here), the Finnish Supreme Court held in a judgment in 2023 that the children should return to Russia in accordance with the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction of 25 October 1980.
As was reported for this blog in November 2023, the Finnish Supreme Court found no grounds for refusal even though the father had been granted asylum and the children wanted to stay in Finland. In December 2025, the ECtHR unanimously held that the Finnish judgment was compatible with the ECHR (see Iina Thornberg’s blog on the ECtHR judgment here).
At the same time, however, the ECtHR made use of interim measures under Rule 39 of the “Rules of Court“, requesting Finland not to return the children to Russia pending final resolution of the case.
On 11 May 2026, the case was referred to the Grand Chamber at the applicants’ request (see the ECtHR’s press release here). The forthcoming judgment is likely to attract considerable attention, not least because it raises difficult questions concerning the relationship between international child abduction law, asylum protection and human rights guarantees in the context of returns to Russia.