The Convention came together to draft a treaty which countries then agree to abide by or not. Sometimes a country will agree to most of the treaty but reserve their rights to act differently under some section of the treaty. In general though the members who have become signatories to the Hague Convention on International Child Custody, such as the United States of America, and its political subdivisions like California and Los Angeles California, agree to:

Article 7
Central Authorities shall co-operate with each other and promote co-operation amongst the competent authorities in their respective States to secure the prompt return of children and to achieve the other objects of this Convention.
In particular, either directly or through any intermediary, they shall take all appropriate measures –
a) to discover the whereabouts of a child who has been wrongfully removed or retained;
b) to prevent further harm to the child or prejudice to interested parties by taking or causing to be taken provisional measures;
c) to secure the voluntary return of the child or to bring about an amicable resolution of the issues;
d) to exchange, where desirable, information relating to the social background of the child;
e) to provide information of a general character as to the law of their State in connection with the application of the Convention;
f) to initiate or facilitate the institution of judicial or administrative proceedings with a view to obtaining the return of the child and, in a proper case, to make arrangements for organising or securing the effective exercise of rights of access;
g) where the circumstances so require, to provide or facilitate the provision of legal aid and advice, including the participation of legal counsel and advisers;
h) to provide such administrative arrangements as may be necessary and appropriate to secure the safe return of the child;
i) to keep each other informed with respect to the operation of this Convention and, as far as possible, to eliminate any obstacles to its application.

The nine goals of the Hague Convention on International Child Custody are to help parents whose child is a victim of parental abduction. They are implemented through Central Authorities, such as the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office usually in partnership with a private local attorney, or in opposition to a private local lawyer.

Each country that is a party to the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction must designate a Central Authority to implement and enforce orders issued under the Treaty. In countries such as the United States of America, where there are subservient jurisdictions such as California, the contracting country can designate more than one Central Authority. For example at the U.S. Federal level they designate the states as central authorities who in turn designate they subdivsions such as the Los Angeles County District Attorney to be the Central Authority for cases that involve children in Los Angeles County.

The treaty authorizes this at:

Article 6
A Contracting State shall designate a Central Authority to discharge the duties which are imposed by the Convention upon such authorities. Federal States, States with more than one system of law or States having autonomous territorial organisations shall be free to appoint more than one Central Authority and to specify the territorial extent of their powers. Where a State has appointed more than one Central Authority, it shall designate the Central Authority to which applications may be addressed for transmission to the appropriate Central Authority within that State.

As lawyers in Los Angeles County who deal with child custody and child visitation, along with access petitions under the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction, our firm has experience working with our central authority. We have also worked with the Central Authority of other counties and countries.

The Hague Convention on International Child Custody addresses the rights a parent has to a child for purposes of residency determination, and access. For example if a child custody determination was made in England, but the child resides in Los Angeles, California, the lawyers for the non-custodial parent would seek enforcement of the child custody order in the Superior Court of California – Los Angeles County.

Article 5
For the purposes of this Convention – a) “rights of custody” shall include rights relating to the care of the person of the child and, in particular, the right to determine the child’s place of residence;

b) “rights of access” shall include the right to take a child for a limited period of time to a place
other than the child’s habitual residence.

These are important rights, especially Article 5, Section a, as that right will determine which jurisdiction will be controlling. In Los Angeles County and throughout California, the courts will apply the standards of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act when deciding if the Hague Convention applies, this is why an attorney who is experienced in this area is necessary.

The Hague Convention on International Child Abduction is a multi-lateral treaty. That means it applies to nations that have agreed to abide by its terms. Once a nation agrees to it, that agreement must be accepted by the other nations that have agreed to it. The United States has been a signatory to the Treaty since 1988.

The Convention applies by its own terms:

Article 4

The Convention shall apply to any child who was habitually resident in a Contracting State immediately before any breach of  custody or access rights. The  Convention shall cease to apply when the child attains the age of 16 years.

The United States of America (U.S.A.) uses the period of 6 months to define the term “immediately before” as that is the amount of time that is considered to establish a new residency under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, which applies at the state level.

As lawyers who practice in California with the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction and have worked with other attorneys throughout the USA and the globe on these and related issues, we have the experience to help you.

The Convention decided that there shall be standards to define the Wrongful Retention or Removal of a child. Under the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction the following are the broad stroke definitions of what is considered to be Wrongful Retention or Wrongful Removal:

Article 3

The removal or the retention of a child is to be considered wrongful where – 

a) it is in breach of rights of custody attributed to a person, an institution or any other body, either  jointly or alone, under the law of the State  in which the child was habitually resident  immediately before the removal or retention; and

 

b) at the time of removal or retention those rights were actually exercised, either jointly or alone,  or would have been so exercised but for the removal or retention.  The rights of custody mentioned in sub-paragraph a) above, may arise in particular by operation of law or by reason of a judicial or administrative decision, or by reason of an agreement having legal effect under the law of that State. 

So when a court order has been issued or if the parents were sharing custody and one parent refuses to share the child’s custodial time, or leaves the country, the “left behind parent” needs to act to protect their interests and rights. The best way to do that is to locate lawyers ( attorneys ) who are skilled and experienced with the intricacies of the Hague Convention of International Child Abduction. In California, we have represented clients from Los Angeles County to Nevada County in Northern California and are qualified to represent clients throughout the state of California.

The Hague Convention on International Child Abduction has two main objectives, set out in Chapter 1, Article 1 of the Convention:

Article 1

The objects of the present Convention are –

a) to secure the prompt return of children wrongfully removed to or retained in any contracting State; and

b) to ensure that rights of custody and of access under the law  of one Contracting State are effectively respected in the other Contracting States.

The Hague Convention is designed to  be a tool to enforce a custody order that has been made, or when one has not yet been made, to determine WHICH court should make the determination.

When we have these cases in Los Angeles County, or throughout the southland of California, we are always aware of the limitations of the Convention. The Los Angeles Superior Court is quite familiar with the Convention because we are such a multi-national and cultural city.

The International Treaty as approved by the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction on October 28, 1980 has the following introductory language, which I think very clearly explains the purpose of the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction:

“The States signatory to the present Convention, Firmly convinced that the interests of children are of paramount importance in matters relating to their custody, Desiring to protect children internationally from the harmful effects of their wrongful removal or retention and to establish procedures to ensure their prompt return to the State of their habitual residence, as well as to secure protection for rights of access…”

In international child custody cases where there are at least two jurisdictions involved such as California and Singapore, or Los Angeles and Barcelona, if there is a dispute as to which jurisdiction should be controlling, even under the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction, lawyers will have to be retained in both countries. They need to be able to work together to present a united front, and a concerted legal theory in order for the client to prevail.

When we work with lawyers in another jurisdiction the first thing we do is to establish a good relationship and determine what is going to be the best way to proceed. We have worked with local counsel in Norway, Portugual, Singapore, Thailand, Mexico, Canada, England, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Moscow and others.

International Child Custody cases are frequently complex and require experienced lawyers who are capable of working with multiple factors such as different languages, legal systems and cultures.

Parents who are sharing child custody, whether it is joint physical custody or sole physical custody, across borders have an especially difficult situation and one that requires lawyers who are experienced in child custody and visitation under the Hague Convention.

Based  in Los Angeles, California, which is a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural community, our lawyers have experience in working with clients from across the globe and their local counsel in countries as diverse as Norway, Thailand, Singapore, Portugal, Spain, Canada, Mexico and the Czech Republic.

The Hague Convention is an international treaty that allows for enforcement of court orders, once they are issued, but it does not provide a way for a court to make determinations of what should be the Child Custody and Visitation under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

When parents share custody of their child or children, whether across the street or across the planet they run the risk that the other parent won’t return the child on time or according to an agreement. When that happens it is called Wrongful Retention – the custodial parent is holding the child in violation of their parenting plan or court order.

Frequently it is a matter of a few hours and in the long run, it is not a big issue, but when the Wrongful Retention becomes days, weeks or months, then it becomes an abduction. The wrongful retention of a child becomes an Abducted Child and the problems with enforcing a return order grow with each passing day.

Police will look to the court order to determine if they can do anything, usually they want to find a way to not act. Police do not like to enforce custody orders whether they are from a local court, another state and definitely not if it is another country. Which is why all  court orders need to be registered with a local court in a process known as Domestication for international child custody cases, and for interstate cases.

As experienced lawyers who have worked with international child custody cases, we can help  get abducted children back, depending on where they are.