Hague Convention 1996
Encyclopedia
The Convention of 19 October 1996 on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Co-operation in respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children or Hague Convention 1996 is a convention of the Hague Conference on Private International Law
(HCCH). It covers civil measures of protection concerning children, ranging from orders concerning parental responsibility and contact to public measures of protection or care, and from matters of representation to the protection of children’s property. It is therefore much broader in scope than two earlier conventions of the HCCH on the subject.
The Convention has uniform rules determining which country’s authorities are competent to take the measures of protection. The Convention determines which country’s laws are to be applied, and it provides for the recognition and enforcement of measures taken in one Contracting State in all other Contracting States. The co-operation provisions of the Convention provide the basic framework for the exchange of information and for the necessary degree of collaboration between administrative authorities in the Contracting States.
The convention is in force since 1 January 2002 and has 33 Contracting States (as of 15 August 2011). In addition, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States signed the convention, but did not ratify.
and on inter-country adoption.
was delayed as a result of the Gibraltar dispute
between Spain and the United Kingdom. In January 2008 an agreement was reached to resolve the situation to allow progress on this and other treaties. Britain and Spain compromised on a so-called "post-boxing" system under which communications between Spain and Gibraltar involving the treaties will go through London. After this deal the convention entered into force for several EU countries (including Spain), but not yet for the United Kingdom.
Hague Conference on Private International Law
The Hague Conference on Private International Law is the preeminent organisation in the area of private international law....
(HCCH). It covers civil measures of protection concerning children, ranging from orders concerning parental responsibility and contact to public measures of protection or care, and from matters of representation to the protection of children’s property. It is therefore much broader in scope than two earlier conventions of the HCCH on the subject.
The Convention has uniform rules determining which country’s authorities are competent to take the measures of protection. The Convention determines which country’s laws are to be applied, and it provides for the recognition and enforcement of measures taken in one Contracting State in all other Contracting States. The co-operation provisions of the Convention provide the basic framework for the exchange of information and for the necessary degree of collaboration between administrative authorities in the Contracting States.
The convention is in force since 1 January 2002 and has 33 Contracting States (as of 15 August 2011). In addition, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States signed the convention, but did not ratify.
Scope and application
The 1996 Convention aims to to bring justice and relief to parents and children dispersed over different states. It aims at prevention of international child abduction and provide a secure legal framework for cross-border contact between children and their parents when families separate. It establishes a framework for the co-ordination of legal systems, and for international judicial and administrative co-operation. The convention details and specifies many objectives of the almost universally ratified United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children, and complement the widely ratified Hague conventions on Child AbductionHague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction
The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, or Hague Abduction Convention is a multilateral treaty developed by the Hague Conference on Private International Law that provides an expeditious method to return a child internationally abducted from one member nation to...
and on inter-country adoption.
The Hague Children’s Conventions
The Hague Conference has, for more than a century, been involved in measures of protection under civil law of children at risk in cross-frontier situations. Three Hague Children’s Conventions have been developed over the last twenty-five years, a fundamental purpose being to provide the practical machinery to enable States which share a common interest in protecting children to co-operate together to do so.The 1996 Convention
The 1996 convention is the broadest in scope of those three, covering as it does a very wide range of civil measures of protection concerning children, ranging from orders concerning parental responsibility and contact to public measures of protection or care, and from matters of representation to the protection of children’s property. It also covers:- Parental disputes over custody and contact
- Reinforcement of the 1980 Child Abduction Convention
- Unaccompanied minorsUnaccompanied minorAn unaccompanied minor is a child without the presence of a legal guardian. This term is used in immigration law and in airline policies. The specific definition varies from country to country and from airline to airline.-Immigration Law:...
- Cross-frontier placements of children
Delay in implementation in the European Union
Implementation in the member states of the European UnionEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
was delayed as a result of the Gibraltar dispute
Disputed status of Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory, near the southernmost tip of the Iberian peninsula, which is the subject of a disputed irredentist claim by Spain....
between Spain and the United Kingdom. In January 2008 an agreement was reached to resolve the situation to allow progress on this and other treaties. Britain and Spain compromised on a so-called "post-boxing" system under which communications between Spain and Gibraltar involving the treaties will go through London. After this deal the convention entered into force for several EU countries (including Spain), but not yet for the United Kingdom.
External links
- Treaty text
- Ratifications
- Bari Brandes Corbin and Evan B. Brandes, Interpreting and Applying the Hague Convention, New York Family Law Monthly, Vol. 9 Nos. 4-5, December 2007, January 2008 http://www.lawjournalnewsletters.com/issues/ljn_nyfamily/9_4/news/149686-1.html<