It's official: you don't have to live in France
LONDON (Reuters) - Ask most Britons if they would rather live in France and they'd probably answer "oui." But British judges have ruled that two English boys who hate living there don't have to.
The boys, 11 and 16, who have a French mother and a British father, were taken to live in France after the parents' marriage broke down. But during a visit to England they asserted their "Britishness" and refused to return to live with their mother.
The mother took the case to court, arguing that she had a right to decide where they should live and that the father had put the children up to it, the Times newspaper reported.
But three of Britain's most senior judges decided the boys had an inherent right to refuse to live in France, where nearly 300,000 Britons have chosen to live.
Describing the case as "not just exceptional but very exceptional," the chief judge said it was clear the children really disliked the country and hadn't settled in.
They preferred England because, apparently, they could "walk to school, could have their own key and would not have to do as much homework."
In his ruling the judge said he had "rarely, if ever, heard such strongly expressed views by children."
(Reporting by Luke Baker; Editing by Golnar Motevalli)
