International child abduction

We talk of international child abduction when a child is removed to or retained in a country outside the Netherlands without permission. In most cases of international child abduction, one parent has taken the child abroad without the other parent’s consent.

The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction
In 1980 the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction was concluded in order to combat international child abduction. The object of the convention is to trace abducted children and to enable their prompt return to the country of origin. So far, seventy countries have signed the Convention.

Central Authority
According to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction each party to the Convention must designate a Central Authority, which is responsible for carrying out the Convention. The Central Authority is to secure the return of a child. A voluntary return of both parent and child is preferable, either with or without mediation. If this is not an option, however, the Central Authority can take legal action.

Questions in the House of Representatives
In case of child abduction to the Netherlands, the Dutch Central Authority provides legal assistance to the parent left behind, in criminal proceedings.. In actual practice this leads to Dutch civil servants taking legal action against Dutch citizens.In March 2007, the House of Representatives questioned the Cabinet about the matter. Subsequently, The Research and Documentation Centre of the Dutch Minstry of Justice (WODC) commisioned two professors from the Amsterdam Free University to carry out research into the role and functioning of the Central Authority in a number of European countries.

Research
The research report “The role and functioning of the Central Authority in the framework of the implementation of the Hague Child Abduction Convention in Germany, England & Wales, France and Sweden” shows that in Germany, England & Wales, France and Sweden, unlike in the Netherlands, the parent left behind is represented by a lawyer.

Bill
The Dutch Minister of Justice, Mr Ernst Hirsch Ballin would like to change the role and task of the Central Authority in the Netherlands in such a way that in a case of child abduction to the Netherlands, the Dutch Central Authority no longer acts on behalf of the parent left behind. In the future, either parent will have to hire their own lawyer, in order to give them equal positions. To this end the Minister will introduce a bill into Parliament in early 2009.

Central Authority in England and Wales

The role and functioning of the Central Authority in the framework of the implementation of the Hague Child Abduction Convention in Germany, England & Wales, France and Sweden