AI v MT [2013] EWHC 100 (Fam)
Family Division, Baker J, 30 January 2013
The High Court has approved a consent order based on a Beth Din procedure in divorce proceedings.
Henry Setright QC and Edward Devereux (instructed by Dawson Cornwell) for the applicant. Marcus Scott-Manderson QC and Teertha Gupta QC (instructed by Manches LLP) for the respondent.
Both parties to a divorce proceeding were observant orthodox Jews. The father was Canadian and the mother was British. They married in London in August 2006 in a Jewish religious ceremony, followed by a civil ceremony in Toronto in October 2006. There were two children. Tensions arose and the mother applied for a prohibitive steps order against the father, to stop him removing one of the children from her care. After negotiations, the parties agreed to consider alternative dispute resolution by means of a Beth Din hearing in New York. They signed an agreement providing for all disputes arising out of the marriage to be determined by the Beth Din. The judge indicated that the court’s jurisdiction could not be ousted in that fashion
