Case Update (2020): Jacquety v. Baptisa; Hague Abduction Petitions and suing third parties
On October 7, 2020, in the case of Jacquety v. Baptisa , the U.S. District Court addressed the preliminary matter of whether Baptisa's apparent boyfriend, Wadghiri, was a proper party to the litigation. Jacquety filed a Hague Abduction return petition in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against the child's mother, Baptista, and her apparent boyfriend, Wadghiri, with whom she and the child were living in New York. When Baptista left Morocco, by way of Switzerland, she landed in New York and immediately began living with Wadghiri. Wadghiri submitted a letter to the court, which the court construed as a Motion for Summary Judgment. In the letter, he argued that he was an improper party because he has no control over the child, and, if ordered to return the child, he could not do so. Jacquety argued that there is no limitation on who can be sued to return a child, and it should not be limited to only relatives. He cited to the U.S. ...