Bojan Pap, an Irish citizen, filed a petition under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and the International Child Abduction Remedies Act, 42 U.S.C. § 11601 et seq., seeking the return of his daughter, identified in court filings as AVLP, to Ireland. Pap alleges that Lauren Lawson, AVLP's mother and a U.S. citizen, took the child to Indiana in March 2025 under the pretense of a family visit — with round-trip flights booked for an April 24, 2025 return — and then, according to the complaint, refused to return and eventually ceased all communications with Pap.
The central legal dispute on the motion was whether Pap, as an unmarried father, held any custody rights under Irish law at the time of the alleged removal. Lawson argued he did not, relying on Ireland's Guardianship of Infants Act 1964, which in its original form defines "father" to exclude the natural father of an illegitimate child, and on the Seventh Circuit's 2013 decision in Redmond v. Redmond, 724 F.3d 729, which noted that unmarried fathers in Ireland are not legally recognized as parents, although they may petition a court for guardianship and custody rights.
Pap countered with Ireland's Children and Family Relationships Act 2015, which amended the 1964 Act to extend automatic guardianship to an unmarried father who has cohabited with the child's mother for at least 12 consecutive months, including at least three consecutive months after the child's birth during which both parents lived with the child. Pap also submitted a legal opinion from his Ireland-based counsel, Beth Gilhooly, BL, confirming that interpretation of the amended statute.
Judge Tanya Walton Pratt of the Southern District of Indiana held that Pap adequately alleged facts satisfying those conditions. The complaint asserts that Pap and Lawson cohabited from 2019 through February 29, 2024 — well over 12 consecutive months — and that Pap lived with both Lawson and AVLP from AVLP's birth on September 16, 2023, through February 29, 2024, a period exceeding three months. Lawson filed no reply to Pap's response and did not address the 2015 amendments in her opening brief.
The court noted that its interpretation of Irish law is a question of law and that it may consider any relevant material or source under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 44.1. Taking the complaint's allegations as true and drawing all inferences in Pap's favor, the court held that Pap sufficiently alleged a "wrongful" removal under Article 3 of the Hague Convention and denied the motion to dismiss. The parties were directed to contact the magistrate judge's chambers within three days to schedule a status conference covering case management, the possibility of settlement, and the scheduling of an evidentiary hearing if needed.