R EVIEW
February Monthly Luncheon by The Hon Diana Bryant AO QC
The Seventh Special Commission in 2017, held in the annex to the Peace Palace in The Hague.
The Hague Child Abduction Convention turns 40 Success or failure? On 25th October 2020, the 40th anniversary of the Abduction Convention – the full name of which is The Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction – came and went. Many international events were planned, but due to the pandemic, in the end there was simply a onehour webinar introduced by the Secretary-General of the Hague Conference on Private International Law. It warranted more.
countries by the Family Court, and forget that this instrument, as its name indicates, is an international forum convention; that is where should a case be heard when there is an international dispute between parties in different countries – and particularly when one party has removed a child to another country without the consent of the other parent. Probably the most high-profile case in Australia was what the press called the ‘Italian children’s case’. It There is no doubt the Abduction Convention is was unfortunately mischaracterised by the press as important, but many people don’t know how it a custody case, and support from the media for the mother undoubtedly led to a poor outcome for her. operates and why it was necessary. The media for a start generally fail to understand The aim of the Convention is to prevent a parent from what the Convention does. We tend to see and hear taking a child to another jurisdiction, one where the stories about children being forced to return to other parent may have a connection, without the consent
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