TREATIES
............The Hague Convention...............
Convention concerning the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.
The Hague Convention was created to tackle international child abductions. In the years before the creation of this Convention, child abduction was generally successful for the kidnapping parent. Thus many children disappeared to a foreign country, when visiting a non-custodial parent. For the custodial parent it was in many cases impossible to recover the children. Clear and unequivocal international rules were urgently needed. The result of this need can be found in the Convention concerning the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. This Convention was completed in The Hague on 28 October 1980 and was first signed by Canada, France, Greece and Switzerland. The United States signed in 1988, followed by the Netherlands in 1990. Since then, the Convention has been ratified by dozens of countries. The Convention is an important instrument in fighting child abduction. Considering the number of member countries, it is seen as rather sucessful.
The foremost goal of the Convention is that a child is traced as quickly as possible after abduction and is brought back to the country where it lived before its removal. But unfortunately the Convention does not work for everyone, and certainly will not if your child is located in a country that has not signed the Convention. In both cases we can and will gladly assist you.
Interested in the entire Convention?: contact us
..........Rights of the child.............
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child ( summary )
In general:
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) was adopted unanimously by the United Nations General Assembly on 20 November 1989. The Convention entered into force on 2 September 1990 and has been ratified by almost every member state (191). The Convention entered into force in the Netherlands on 8 March 1995. The CRC contains not only civil and political rights, but also economic, social and cultural rights for all persons below the age of eighteen. It includes some specific rights for children to guarantee their rights to provision, protection and participation. The Committee on the Rights of the Child is the institution for monitoring the CRC. Every member state has to submit an initial report to the Committee within two years after the Convention entered into force and hereafter every five years. In their report they must explain to the Committee how the Convention has been implemented in their state. Not only the member state but also specialized UN-agencies and non-governmental organisations can inform the Committee about the implementation. The report of the member state is discussed during a public meeting of the Committee. After which the Committee informs the member state involved about its concerns and recommendations in the so-called ‘Concluding Observations’. Paramount are the following summarized articles:
Article 8
-Respect for identity.
The government respects the name and nationality of the child.
Imagine that the child is kidnapped and is then subsequently renamed!
The government then helps the child to recover his own name.
Article 9
-Separation of the child from the parents.
All children have the right to live with their parents.
If the parents separate, both parents may continue to see the child, unless it is not good for the child.
Article 10
-Family reunification.
The government must ensure that the child can form a familial relationship with the parents.
Article 11
-Abduction.
The government must ensure that the child cannot be kidnapped to another country.
Interested in the entire Convention?: contact us