A senior Court of Appeal judge has called for an international convention to establish a common approach in contested cases on the relocation of children, where one parent wishes to move abroad.

Head of international family justice Lord Justice Thorpe said that English caselaw had consistently granted relocation applications based on the welfare of the child, and the impact that refusing the primary carer’s request to relocate would have on the child. But he said this approach to ‘a relatively modern phenomenon’ was not shared by other jurisdictions.

He said the challenge for the international community is to develop a principle of general application, perhaps by a convention or protocol.

‘In an ever-shrinking world, uniformity of approach would help parents take responsible decisions and would reduce the scope for subterfuge and strategic manoeuvring,’ he said.

His speech follows a judgment by Mr Justice Mostyn last month calling for a review of the two leading English cases Payne and Poel, which give considerable freedom to the primary carer, usually the mother, to relocate.

Anna Worwood, partner at London firm Manches, said family lawyers welcomed the call for a common international standard and generally viewed English law as placing too much emphasis on the wishes of the mother.

Mark Harper, partner at London firm Withers, said: ‘Is it worse for a child to have the relationship with its father damaged, or worse to have their mother feel trapped and controlled? It’s a question of which is the lesser of two evils.’