Hague Convention on International Child Abduction a Report Committee on Foreign Relations United States Senate Law Library of Co
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1 106TH CONGRESS "!S. PRT. 2d Session COMMITTEE PRINT 106–76 HAGUE CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL CHILD ABDUCTION Applicable Law and Institutional Framework Within Certain Convention Countries A REPORT TO THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS UNITED STATES SENATE BY THE LAW LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ONE HUNDRED SIXTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION OCTOBER 2000 Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Relations U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 70–663 DTP WASHINGTON : 2000 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 09:23 Apr 17, 2001 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5012 Sfmt 5012 70663 SFRELA2 PsN: SFRELA2 COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS JESSE HELMS, North Carolina, Chairman RICHARD G. LUGAR, Indiana JOSEPH R. BIDEN, Jr., Delaware CHUCK HAGEL, Nebraska PAUL S. SARBANES, Maryland GORDON H. SMITH, Oregon CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, Connecticut ROD GRAMS, Minnesota JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming PAUL D. WELLSTONE, Minnesota JOHN ASHCROFT, Missouri BARBARA BOXER, California BILL FRIST, Tennessee ROBERT G. TORRICELLI, New Jersey LINCOLN D. CHAFEE, Rhode Island STEPHEN E. BIEGUN, Staff Director EDWIN K. HALL, Minority Staff Director (II) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 09:23 Apr 17, 2001 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 70663 SFRELA2 PsN: SFRELA2 CONTENTS Page FOREWORD ................................................................................................................ v LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL ......................................................................................... vii INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... ix Countries party to the Convention in this report: Argentina .......................................................................................................... 1 Australia ............................................................................................................ 5 Austria ............................................................................................................... 14 Republic of Belarus .......................................................................................... 20 Canada .............................................................................................................. 26 Cyprus ............................................................................................................... 32 Czech Republic .................................................................................................. 38 Denmark ............................................................................................................ 40 France ................................................................................................................ 43 Republic of Georgia .......................................................................................... 50 Germany ............................................................................................................ 55 Greece ................................................................................................................ 62 Hong Kong ........................................................................................................ 70 Republic of Ireland ........................................................................................... 74 Israel .................................................................................................................. 80 Italy ................................................................................................................... 91 Luxembourg ...................................................................................................... 95 Monaco ............................................................................................................... 97 The Netherlands ............................................................................................... 101 Panama .............................................................................................................. 105 Poland ................................................................................................................ 107 South Africa ...................................................................................................... 119 Sweden .............................................................................................................. 124 United Kingdom ............................................................................................... 127 Zimbabwe .......................................................................................................... 136 APPENDIX Text of Hague Convention [TIAS 11670] ............................................................... 141 Party Countries and Effective Dates with United States .................................... 149 (III) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 09:23 Apr 17, 2001 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 70663 SFRELA2 PsN: SFRELA2 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 09:23 Apr 17, 2001 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 70663 SFRELA2 PsN: SFRELA2 FOREWORD January 2001. In recent years, the Committee on Foreign Relations has devoted considerable attention to the problem of international parental ab- duction, which occurs when one parent removes or retains a child overseas in violation of a custody order or agreement. In October 1998, the Committee conducted a hearing on this issue, and re- ceived testimony from the Attorney General and several parents who have been ‘‘left-behind’’ (that is, their children were taken abroad by the other parent). In 1998 and 1999, the Committee in- cluded legislative provisions in the annual Foreign Relations Au- thorization Acts addressing this issue, namely by requiring the De- partment of State to submit thorough reports to Congress on the issue and by mandating that the Department provide additional manpower to the Office of Children’s Issues, which is the Depart- ment of State’s lead office for handling these cases. This compendium was prepared by the Law Library of Congress at our request following the aforementioned Committee hearing. During the hearing, one witness expressed frustration that there was ‘‘no central repository of reliable information’’ with basic data on foreign legal systems. This report begins to close this informa- tion gap by reviewing the laws and procedures of certain nations which are party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. The initial report covers 25 coun- tries which are party to the Convention. The Law Library is con- tinuing work on reports about several other Convention countries. We express our deep appreciation to the Law Library staff mem- bers who contributed to this report. We hope the report and subse- quent editions will be useful to parents and other readers. Honorable JESSE HELMS, Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Honorable JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR., Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. (v) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 09:23 Apr 17, 2001 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6601 70663 SFRELA2 PsN: SFRELA2 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 09:23 Apr 17, 2001 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6601 70663 SFRELA2 PsN: SFRELA2 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, LAW LIBRARY, DIRECTORATE OF LEGAL RESEARCH, Washington, DC, August 28, 2000. Honorable JESSE HELMS, Chairman Honorable JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR., Ranking Member Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, DC. DEAR SENATOR HELMS AND SENATOR BIDEN: The attached reports are submitted in response to your request that the Law Library of Congress prepare a series of reports con- cerning the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction. The purpose of these reports is to identify the applicable law and institutional framework within each of the Convention countries as an aid in understanding how the Convention is implemented do- mestically in those nations. The initial series of reports covers 25 countries that are party to the Convention. Work is underway to complete the next phase which will provide reports for an additional 8 of the remaining 29 Convention countries (excluding the United States). As some of the foreign legal specialists who are developing the reports are respon- sible for more than one country (in some cases up to six countries), we anticipate that the remaining reports, apart from the 8 that constitute the next phase, will be submitted to the Committee over the course of a number of months. We trust that these reports will be of value to the Committee and to other readers. Sincerely, DAVID M. SALE, Director of Legal Research. (vii) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 09:23 Apr 17, 2001 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6601 70663 SFRELA2 PsN: SFRELA2 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 09:23 Apr 17, 2001 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6601 70663 SFRELA2 PsN: SFRELA2 INTRODUCTION At the request of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Directorate of Legal Research of the Law Library of Congress is preparing a series of reports concerning the implementation of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Ab- duction. The purpose of these reports is to identify the applicable law and institutional framework within each of the Convention countries as an aid in understanding how the Convention is imple- mented by the nations that are party to this treaty. This work is being developed in stages and the initial reports cover 25