Posts
by Jeremy D. Morley
The U.S. Department of State Office
of Children’s Issues has issued its 2014 annual report on compliance with the
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction,
covering the period from January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2013.
Some notable points are as follows:
-Costa
Rica, Guatemala, and Honduras were determined to be “non-compliant” with the
Convention. Costa Rica and Guatemala
demonstrated non-compliance in the areas of judicial and central authority
performance. Honduras demonstrated
non-compliance in the areas of judicial, law enforcement, and central authority
performance. Notably, Costa Rican courts
have delivered verdicts that are inconsistent with Hague principles; Guatemala
has demonstrated significant delays in processing cases and responding to USCA’s
requests for information; and the Honduran judiciary continues to treat Hague
cases as custody matters.
-The Bahamas and Brazil showed “patterns
of noncompliance with the Convention.”
Notably, the Bahamian courts tend to treat Hague cases as custody
matters, resulting in delays. Brazil’s
issues can all be tied to delays; in locating children, lengthy reviews
conducted by Brazilian federal judges, and numerous appeals that may be filed
by taking parents.
-Four
countries were categorized as “Countries with Enforcement Concerns” in which
left-behind parents in the United States have not been able to secure prompt
enforcement of a final return or access order during the reporting period
because of the absence of effective enforcement mechanisms. These countries
were Brazil, Mexico, Romania, and Ukraine.
-The State Department reported on 18 countries where applications for return had
remained open for more than 18 months after the date of filing. These are
Argentina (three cases), The Bahamas (three cases), Belgium (one case), Brazil
(nine cases), Canada (two cases), Colombia (one case), Costa Rica (two cases),
Croatia (one case), Dominican Republic (two cases), Guatemala (two cases), Honduras
(three cases), Israel (one case), Italy (one case), Mexico (sixty four
cases), Panama (one case), Peru (eight cases), Poland (two cases) Romania, (one
case) Slovakia (one case), and Turkey (three cases). Questions can certainly be raised as to how
Mexico and Peru for example were not categorized as either “non-compliant” or
showing “patterns of noncompliance with the Convention” with such high numbers
of cases open for more than 18 months after the date of filing.
The
full text of the report can be found here:
