The figures revealed in the annual report of the Office of the Head of International Family Justice for England and Wales that the Office handled handled 263 in 2012 compared with 65 in 2008.
The office deals with international cases from child abduction to forced marriage and inter-country adoptions. According to lawonthe web.co.uk last year’s cases included 137 from Europe, including 14 from Poland and 12 from Spain. Outside Europe, Pakistan was largest, accounting for 13 cases.

Globalisation

Lord Justice Thorpe, who works with lawyers and judges in family law cases occurring in the UK and in other countries put the increased workload down to the ever increasing number of international family cases coming before the courts. ‘The second is the ever increasing number of international family cases coming before the courts, necessitating assistance from an overseas judge of vice versa,’ he said in the report.