The High Court ordered a mother to pay HK$660,000 in legal costs to the father after she unilaterally retained their daughter in Crimea following a 2018 vacation, refusing to return her to Hong Kong for five years.

The court rejected her argument that the father’s conduct justified withholding the child, stressed that child retention is unacceptable in resolving disputes, and deducted the costs from the sale proceeds of her property.