The Central District Court of Novosibirsk and child return cases under the 1980 Hague Convention

Article 244.11 of the Russian Code of Civil Procedure assigns child return and access cases to the Central District Court of Novosibirsk when the child is present within the Siberian Federal District. What matters is where the child actually is, not where the parents are registered or where the respondent lives.

The Siberian Federal District comprises the Altai Republic, the Tyva Republic, the Republic of Khakassia, the Altai and Krasnoyarsk Territories, and the Irkutsk, Kemerovo, Novosibirsk, Omsk and Tomsk Regions.

Since 2018 the Republic of Buryatia and the Zabaykalsky Territory have belonged to the Far Eastern Federal District. Cases concerning children present in Ulan-Ude or Chita are therefore heard not in Novosibirsk but in Khabarovsk — an easy point to miss when determining jurisdiction.

Regions of the district border Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China. Mainland China is not a party to the 1980 Convention, so the Convention return mechanism does not apply in relations with it and other legal tools are needed.

Address: 89 Gorkogo Street, Novosibirsk, 630099. Official website: centralny.nsk.sudrf.ru (in Russian).

The application is heard within no more than 42 days of its acceptance by the court, with the mandatory participation of the prosecutor and the guardianship authority. Appeals against decisions of the Central District Court of Novosibirsk are heard by the Novosibirsk Regional Court: the appeal is filed within 10 days of the decision being issued in final form, and the appellate court hears the case within no more than one month.

If the child is in the Siberian Federal District, a lawyer can help confirm the jurisdiction of the Central District Court of Novosibirsk, prepare the application and evidence, and — where there is a risk that the child will be taken away — apply for interim measures.