Haman and Holran

In the matter of Haman & Holran, Mushin J made orders concerning a child born in February 2006. The dispute involved parental responsibility, the child's residence, and the issuance of a passport.

The court was required to determine issues relating to the sole parental responsibility for the child, the child's living arrangements, and arrangements for the child's time with and communication with the wife. A significant issue was whether a passport should be issued for the child to the husband, notwithstanding the wife's lack of consent, pursuant to section 7A(2)(b) of the *Passports Act 1938*.

Mushin J ordered that the husband have sole parental responsibility for all major and day-to-day decisions concerning the child, and that the child live with the husband. The court further ordered that any arrangements for the child spending time or communicating with the wife were to be by agreement between the parties or by further order of the Court. Crucially, the court directed that a passport be issued for the child to the husband for the purposes of section 7A(2)(b) of the *Passports Act 1938*, notwithstanding the wife's lack of consent.

The court dismissed all other applications, with general liberty reserved to both parties to apply. The husband was ordered to serve a sealed copy of the order on the wife by facsimile transmission to her solicitor in Lebanon. Liberty was reserved to the wife to apply to vary or set aside these orders within 42 days of service, provided such application was supported by an affidavit explaining her non-involvement in the proceedings. The proceedings were otherwise removed from the list of cases awaiting hearing.