US Makes The Hague Convention Stricter, Disobeying Countries To Face Legal Actions.

US Congress has recently passed International Child Abduction Return Act, 2017. The Act seeks to punish the countries that do not adhere to the US orders on the return of the abducted children. Nirmal Singh 3C Company mentions, The Australian Central Authority in the attorney- general department is responsible for administering the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. The convention was made in the 1980’s and is a multilateral treaty operating between Australia and many other countries.

What is Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction?

Nirmal Singh 3C Company says that India has been asked several times to become a member of it, but for some reason it is still reluctant to rectify the treaty. It is a lawful procedure that ensures the safe return of abducted children to their home countries. This way even the parents gets proper assistance to obtain contact or access to children overseas. Till now, the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction is the main international parental child abduction that cover international cases of parent/ child abduction and provide proper guidelines and follow a proper procedure to ensure that the child returns to his home country safely and also for the parents to contact their children abroad.

Highlights of the convention

·         The convention makes it compulsory for the participating countries to establish a central Authority to trace the abducted children and secure their return to their countries

·         The convention does not affect any laws laid by the country that applies to the children under the age of 16.

India’s view on being a part of the Convention

The treaty stands for than 25 years now and India has still not become a part of it. It is difficult to guess why India has been reluctant on signing the agreement says Nirmal Singh 3C Company but this is how it can benefit from it:

In 2009, the Law Commission of India recommended that we must signed the Hague convention, because it will improve the chances of finding the abducted children abroad with the help of the other signatories of the agreement. International support is a must for any country and the treaty promises full support and guidance to the participating counties in the case of child abduction. But India was still not convinced and did not sign the treaty.

Last week, US Congress issued the Bindu Philips and the Devon Davenport International Child Abduction Return Act of 2017 which seeks to punish countries who do not adhere to US court orders in the matters of the abducted child.

Nirmal Singh 3C Company says that the problem of Child abduction is toxic, with majority of the cases left unsolved. Hence, signing The Hague Convention would only prove to be beneficial for the country.