I was watching the news about those 4 girls being made to go back to Italy with their father....

I always thought that once a child reached a certain age they could decide which parent they wanted to live with. Is this wrong? I just remembered when I was little my friend at school was counting down till she was 12 so she could live with her mum.

I thought the older girls in this case could have chosen to live with their mum if they were 15?

Hope someone can explain it to me