Director-General, Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services & Garning (No 2)

In the matter of *Director-General, Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services & Garning (No 2)*, Forrest J of the Family Court of Australia considered an application for a warrant under regulation 31 of the *Hague Convention Regulations*. The proceedings concerned the recovery of four children who were the subject of return orders to Italy. The Director-General, as the State Central Authority, sought the warrant due to concerns that the children would not be delivered to Brisbane International Airport as required by the existing return orders, citing threats against the children's lives by their maternal grandmother and the fact that the children had not yet been delivered into the care of the Department.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether a warrant should be issued under regulation 31 of the *Hague Convention Regulations* to authorise law enforcement authorities to take possession of the four children. This required the Court to assess the risk of non-compliance with the existing return orders and the necessity of issuing such a warrant to ensure the children's safe return to Italy.

Forrest J reasoned that the circumstances presented a real risk that the children would not be delivered as ordered. The threats made by the maternal grandmother against the children's lives, coupled with the failure to deliver the children to the State Central Authority, established a sufficient basis for the exercise of the Court's power under regulation 31. The Court applied the principles governing the issuance of warrants in Hague Convention proceedings, focusing on the paramount consideration of the children's welfare and the need to enforce return orders effectively. Consequently, the Court ordered the issuance of a warrant authorising law enforcement officers to take possession of the children and deliver them to an officer of the Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services, or a nominated person, pending their return to Italy. The warrant also granted broad powers to law enforcement to facilitate the recovery of the children.