Family court sends 'strong message' over non-disclosure with sentence for contempt

A husband who systematically failed to comply with court orders has been handed a nine-month custodial sentence and had a European arrest warrant issued against him by the High Court.

Mr Justice Mostyn imposed what is thought to be the longest immediate custodial sentence for non-disclosure in the history of the family court.

In Sarah Kimura Al-Baker v Abdul Amir Al-Baker [2015] EWHC 3229 (Fam) the wife, who is represented by Vardags, issued divorce proceedings in January 2015 following a 45-year marriage.

The husband, however, produced a Talaq divorce, a controversial practice said to have been effected in the United Arab Emirates.

The husband challenged the jurisdiction of the High Court and refused to engage with any of the disclosure orders issued against him. He also remained outside of the UK, described in court by counsel as 'pulling up the drawbridge'.

Giving judgment, Mostyn J said: 'I regard this as a worse case in terms of the obloquy of the respondent than the case of Young v Young [2013] EWHC 34 (Fam) where the sentence for non-disclosure that was awarded by the court was six months imprisonment.'

He continued: '…the rule of law depends on compliance with court orders and where court orders are not complied with then the court should take an adamantine approach unless there is good excuse. And no good excuse has been advanced here.'

A European arrest warrant was subsequently issued by the court against the husband.

Rebecca Harling, a solicitor in the family law team at Thomas Eggar, explained that committal for contempt is the court's toughest sanction, with a high threshold before it can be imposed.

'In this case, Mostyn was not only "satisfied beyond any reasonable doubt that the respondent has failed to comply with the disclosure orders" but he concluded that the husband was "defiant in his refusal to do so".

'This decision shows that the court is taking a much tougher practical approach to enforce its orders; punishing those who wilfully commit non-disclosure and refuse to engage in the court process: a strong message.'

John van der Luit-Drummond is deputy editor for Solicitors Journal
john.vanderluit@solicitorsjournal.co.uk | @JvdLD