The Hague Conference, held in the Netherlands for more than a century, has long been involved in protection of children at risk in cross-frontier situations. Three Hague Children’s Conventions have been held over the last 25 years for the purpose of providing practical machinery to enable states in protecting children.
The purpose of the 1996 Convention was to bring relief to parents and children dispersed over different countries. The chief goal was prevention of international child abduction and to provide a secure legal framework for cross-border contact between children and their parents when families separate. It establishes a framework for the coordination of legal systems, and for international judicial and administrative cooperation.
Countries ratifying the Hague Charter agree to be part of an international cooperative of member states providing for return of children abducted and taken to the member country.
The United States is a signatory of the Hague Convention. Under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) and Hague, California courts must enforce conforming foreign custody orders and may enforce visitation orders, but do not usually enforce “Ne Exeat” clauses (restraining orders against removal of child from jurisdiction) contained in foreign decrees. Visitation rights are subordinate to custody rights. The UCCJEA contains no provisions for enforcement of anything except physical custody and visitation. It is concerned with rights to physical possession of the child.
The primary purpose of the Hague Convention and other International Custody Acts (for example, see ICARA – the International Child Custody Remedies Act – 42 U.S.C. §11603(b), as well as the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International and Child Abduction (the “Hague Convention” or the Convention)) is to prevent parents from wrongfully taking children across national borders in order to shop for a friendly forum in which to litigate custody.
In a case arising under California Family Code §3455 or involving the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, a district attorney is authorized to proceed pursuant to California Family Code §3130. A district attorney acting under this section is appointed by the Court and does not represent any party.
Under California Family Code §3442, a court of this state may enforce an order for the return of a child under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction as if it were a child custody determination.
The State Department is required by law to prepare an annual Hague compliance report for Congress. The annual State Department Hague compliance reports are posted at http://travel.state.gov, Children and Family, International Abduction.
For more information about annulments and other family law matters, contact the Reape-Rickett Law Firm at 661-288-1000. They are located at 23929 West Valencia Boulevard, Suite 404 in Valencia.