You are being invited to take part in a research study. Before you decide whether or not to take part, it is important for you to understand why the research is being done and what it will involve. Please take time to read the following information carefully. Title of project: Protection of Abducting Mothers in Return Proceedings: Intersection between Domestic Violence and Parental Child Abduction (POAM Project) About the project The POAM project is concerned with the protection of mothers who have removed or retained their children abroad against the background of domestic violence in Hague return proceedings. POAM is a project led by the University of Aberdeen, with a core consortium consisting of Universities from three partner EU Member States - Italy, Germany and Croatia. Additionally, the project involves National Contact Points in Spain, Slovenia and Serbia. The project is funded by the European Union, within the scope of the European Commission Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme 2014-2020 under grant agreement No 810373. For more information about the project please visit: https://research.abdn.ac.uk/poam/ Who is conducting this research? The Centre for Private International Law at the University of Aberdeen is responsible for conducting this part of the research. The Aberdeen Team is organising this study as part of the wider project activities and they will be the data controller for any data you submit. The research team is led by Dr Katarina Trimmings. What is the purpose of the research? The project seeks to explore the problems related to the operation of the Regulation 606/2013 on mutual recognition of protection measures in civil matters ('the Protection Measures Regulation’) and the Directive 2011/99/EU on the European Protection Order (‘the European Protection Order Directive’) in the context of parental child abduction cases committed against the background of domestic violence. The aim of the project has been to develop good practice, and to train relevant professionals in the use of these two instruments with the view of strengthening the cross-border protection of mothers fleeing from a situation of domestic violence in circumstances where the left-behind father has filed a petition for the return of the child to the State of habitual residence under the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (‘the 1980 Hague Convention’) and the Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 of 27 November 2003 concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility, repealing Regulation (EC) No 1347/2000 (‘the Brussels IIa Regulation’). As a part of the evaluation of the project activities, this survey is being conducted to assess the mothers’ experiences of the quality of legal advice received during the return proceedings with respect to their protection from domestic violence. What will happen to the results of the research study? The data gathered during this research will be used for the purposes of the evaluation of the effectiveness of the project activities. We will be collecting details about your views and experiences within Article 13(1) b) 1980 Hague Convention proceedings and the information will help us better understand the utility and effectiveness of protective measures to safeguard mothers and children in cases involving domestic violence. The data may also be used in future publications including, but not limited to, books, journal articles and conference proceedings. All data will be anonymized in the collection, storage and publication of research materials. All data generated by the study will be retained in accordance with the University of Aberdeen Research Governance Framework and stored in compliance with the University of Aberdeen guidance on data storage. Who has reviewed the study? The research has been approved by the Committee for Research Ethics & Governance in Arts, Social Sciences & Business, University of Aberdeen. Contact Details If you have any general queries, require further information about the study or would like to withdraw your consent to participate, please contact the principal researcher. Name: Dr Katarina Trimmings Email: k.trimmings@abdn.ac.uk Telephone: 01224 272415 If you have any concerns about the way in which the study has been conducted, you can contact Professor Tamas Gyorfi, University of Aberdeen, School of Law Ethics Officer (t.gyorfi@abdn.ac.uk). *Please print or save a copy of this form for your records. * Thank you for your time. |