Good Practice Report on Access Under the Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction

• NCJ Number: 235239
• Author(s): Nigel Lowe; Katarina Horosova
• Date Published: 2007
• Length: 31 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2007-MC-CX-K001
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP); National Ctr for Missing and Exploited Children
• Corporate Author: Centre for International Family Law Studies
• Sale Source: National Ctr for Missing and Exploited Children
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Description; Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined good practice in handling access applications under the Hague Convention of October 24, 1980 on the Civil aspects of International Child Abduction ("1980 Hague Convention").

Abstract

The 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child guarantees the right of each child to maintain contact with both parents. The counterpart of the right of the child separated from one parent to keep in contact with him/her is the "rights of access" vested in the noncustodial parent. The 1980 Hague Convention defines "rights of access" as "the right to take a child for a limited period of time to a place other than the child's habitual residence." Rights of access include the right of a noncustodial parent to maintain communication with the child regardless of the wishes of the other parent. The communication usually takes the form of physical contact with the child either in the requesting Contracting State or the requested Contracting State. The frequency and duration of the meetings vary depending on individual arrangements. The communication, however, is not limited to physical contact. It may include contact via telephone, video telephone, e-mail, or text messages. Because of the uncertain language of the 1980 Hague Convention, there are unacceptably wide divergences in Contracting State practices in the context of rights of access. The problems with the 1980 Hague Convention have been summarized by the Duncan Report. The broad areas of the Duncan Report are outlined in the current report. The current report then recommends revisions of the 1980 Hague Convention so as to improve the implementation of rights of access in the context of international child abductions perpetrated by one of the child's parents.