Director-General, Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services and Nassan

The case involved the Director-General, Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services, and Nassan. The dispute concerned whether the father had "rights of custody" in relation to a child immediately before their removal on 24 March 2012, a crucial element for determining jurisdiction under the Hague Convention. The court was required to resolve conflicting affidavit evidence regarding the child's birth registration.

The primary legal issue before the court was how to resolve disputed facts when presented with irreconcilable affidavit evidence and no oral testimony. Specifically, the court had to determine whether the father had joined in the application for the child's birth registration, as this bore directly on whether he possessed rights of custody under New Zealand law.

The court applied principles for resolving disputed evidence, drawing on both English and Australian Family Court jurisprudence. It considered the approach of looking at the inherent probabilities and independent extraneous evidence to resolve conflicts in sworn testimony. In this instance, the court found that the issuance of the child's birth certificate served as compelling independent extraneous evidence. This evidence, coupled with the relevant provisions of the New Zealand Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1995, led the court to conclude that the father had indeed joined in the birth registration application. Consequently, the court determined that the father was a guardian of the child and possessed rights of custody under New Zealand law.