Number of cases handled by specialist judicial office has risen from 92 to 253 in the past two years, report reveals

Cross-border legal disputes involving child abduction and custody rows have more than doubled in the past two years, according to the judicial office specialising in international family cases.

Globalisation and the boom in relationships between people from different states increasingly requires the intervention of specialist judges to liaise between jurisdictions, a report by the office has revealed.

The number of cases handled by the Office of the Head of International Family Justice for England & Wales has risen from three in 2005, when it was established, to 92 in 2010 and 253 last year.

Among disputes the office dealt with was the case of a mother who took her children to France to prevent them from being taken into care. The report says they were found living on a waterlogged caravan site, due to close for the winter, and were not attending school. The children were eventually safely returned.

In another case, the judicial office obtained assurances from the Cypriot attorney general that a woman who agreed to return from Britain to Cyprus with her child would not be prosecuted by the Cypriot authorities.

In his preface to the report, Lord Justice Thorpe, head of the office, said: "We acknowledge, as would all individuals concerned or involved with family justice, the additional emotional distress that is caused to any family by the inclusion of an international dimension. It is incumbent upon anyone who works in such a sensitive area to try and find ways of mitigating such stress, to the extent that it is possible to do so."

Thorpe's office runs a helpdesk for judges and lawyers whose cases have stalled or been delayed because two countries' legal systems are involved or when international conventions guaranteeing children's rights are flouted by overseas courts.

Much of the legal team's expertise is focused on improving transnational judicial collaboration over abductions and other child custody disputes where parents live in different countries.

Lord Justice Thorpe said: "The continued rise in requests to the office for assistance is largely attributable to two factors … the ever-increasing number of international family cases coming before the courts, necessitating assistance from an overseas judge.

"The second is the increasing awareness among judges and practitioners throughout the world of the service that the office provides and the benefits it can bring."

The office dealt with 71 different national jurisdictions and recorded that it was able to offer "meaningful assistance" in relation to 46 countries. It co-ordinates with the Foreign Office's child abduction unit and the lord chancellor's international child abduction and contact unit.

The majority of European requests related to Poland (14), Spain (12), France and Germany (10 each), Slovakia (nine) and the Republic of Ireland (seven). The report says it is to be regretted that neither Poland nor Italy have appointed sitting judges to the International Hague Network of Judges, specialising in family justice. "This has significantly impeded formal judicial collaboration with both jurisdictions."

Sometimes consultations involve late-night conversations to overcome timezone differences. A lawyer from the international family justice office in London had to speak to the New Zealand family judge at 1am in a case involving allegations of sex abuse by the mother of an abducted child against the father.

In another case, an English judge participated via telephone in a US court hearing about a dispute involving a child he had previously dealt with in the UK.