The Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Yekaterinburg 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 Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Yekaterinburg when the child is present within the Ural Federal District. What matters is where the child actually is, not where the parents are registered or where the respondent lives.

The Ural Federal District comprises the Kurgan, Sverdlovsk, Tyumen and Chelyabinsk Regions, the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area – Yugra and the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area.

The district includes the northern autonomous areas of Yugra and Yamal. The distance from there to Yekaterinburg can exceed a thousand kilometers, so participation in the proceedings and delivery of documents should be planned from day one.

The Kurgan, Tyumen and Chelyabinsk Regions border Kazakhstan. For families with ties to neighboring countries, it is important to check before filing whether the Convention is in force between Russia and the state concerned.

Address: 23 Pekhotintsev Street, Yekaterinburg, 620141. Official website: zheleznodorozhny.svd.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 Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Yekaterinburg are heard by the Sverdlovsk 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 Ural Federal District, a lawyer can help confirm the jurisdiction of the Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Yekaterinburg, prepare the application and evidence, and — where there is a risk that the child will be taken away — apply for interim measures.