The Hague Convention Partners with the US

The Hague Conference

The Hague Conference on private international law is an intergovernmental organization the purpose of which is “to work for the progressive unification of the rules of private international law” (Statute, Article 1). There are currently 59 permanent members of the Hague Conference. The Conference meets every four years in “Plenary Sessions,” at which the members discuss and adopt multilateral treaties, or “Conventions” in the different fields of private international law. There have been 36 Conventions adopted since 1945.

The Twenty-Seventh Convention

This project focuses solely on the 27th Convention adopted by the Hague Conference. The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (hereafter “The Convention”) was adopted in 1980 and according to The Hague Conference Web site, “is a multilateral treaty, which seeks to protect children from the harmful effects of abduction and retention across international boundaries by providing a procedure to bring about their prompt return.”

This convention establishes the rules that govern international parental child abduction cases. The convention applies when a child has been removed from its country of residence to a foreign country without the consent of the custodial parent, or retained in a foreign country longer than an initially agreed upon period. (For example, kept in Australia after a Christmas holiday trip)

The Convention consists of 45 articles divided into six chapters. As of June, 2010 82 countries are contracting states to the Convention. Of those states, over 60 have been accepted by the U.S. Below is a list of the effective dates of the contracting parties of the Convention with the U.S.:

Argentina: June 1, 1981
Australia: July 1, 1988
Austria: October 1, 1988
Bahamas: January 1, 1994
Belgium: May 1, 1999
Belize: November 1, 1989
Bosnia & Herzegovina: December 1, 1991
Brazil: December 1, 2003
Bulgaria: January 1, 200
Burkina Faso: November 1, 1992
Canada: July 1, 1988
Chile: July 1, 1994
Hong Kong Special Admin. Region: September 1, 1997
Macau: March 1, 1999
Colombia: June 1, 1996
Costa Rica: January 1, 2008
Croatia: December 1, 1991
Cyprus: March 1, 1995
Czech Republic: March 1, 1998
Denmark: July 1, 1991
Dominican Republic: June 1, 2007
Ecuador: April 1, 1992
El Salvador: June 1, 2007
Estonia: May 1, 2007
Finland: August 1, 1994
France: July 1, 1988
Germany: December 1, 1990
Greece: June 1, 1993
Guatemala: January 1, 2008
Honduras: June 1, 1994
Hungary: July 1, 1988
Iceland: December 1, 1996
Ireland: October 1, 1991
Israel: December 1, 1991
Italy: May 1, 1995
Latvia: May 1, 2007
Lithuania: May 1, 2007
Luxembourg: July 1, 1988
Former Yugoslav Rep. of Macedonia: December 1, 1991
Malta: February 1, 2003
Mauritius: October 1, 1993
Mexico: October 1, 1991
Monaco: June 1, 1993
Montenegro: December 1, 1991
Netherlands: September 1, 19901
New Zealand: October 1, 1991
Norway: April 1, 1989
Panama: June 1, 1994
Paraguay: January 1, 2008
Peru: June 1, 2007
Poland: November 1, 1992
Portugal: July 1, 1998
Romania: June 1, 1993
San Marino: January 1, 2008
Serbia: December 1, 1991
Slovakia: February 1, 2001
Slovenia: April 1, 1995
South Africa: November 1, 1997
Spain: July 1, 1988
Sri Lanka: January 1, 2008
St. Kitts and Nevis: June 1, 1995
Sweden: June 1, 1989
Switzerland: July 1, 1988
Turkey: August 1, 2000
Ukraine: September 1, 2007
United Kingdom: July 1, 1988
Bermuda: March 1, 1999
Cayman Islands: August 1, 1988
Falkland Islands: March 1, 1999
Isle of Man: September 1, 1991
Montserrat: March 1, 1999
Uruguay: September 1, 2004
Venezuela: January 1, 1997
Zimbabwe: August 1, 1995

Why this Project?

We are a team of individuals from various professional backgrounds who are dedicated to creating a comprehensive resource that will enable mothers, domestic violence advocates, attorneys and judges to better prepare themselves for Hague Convention cases in the United States' legal system.