Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Update on Pakistan & the Hague Abduction Convention

Pakistan on track to sign Hague Child Abduction Convention

A source of relief to both Pakistani and foreigner parents, the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction will make it easier for families to bring their children to Pakistan, or to relocate their children to a foreign domicile, is nearly ready to be presented to the Cabinet for approval.

After the hectic efforts of ministers of law, finance and information, as well as the Foreign Office and the bureaucracies of the provinces, the convention has received approval almost unanimously.

The only words of reluctance for it have been, predictably, from the Council of Islamic Ideology.

As with the Women’s Protection Act, and the honour crimes bills, the necessity is to continue on the right path, despite the whimpering and protests of an archaic CII.


Meetings are imminent in the current few days, with high chances of the convention being granted preliminary approval.

The convention is required by Pakistani children stranded abroad, including for those with parents who are dual national, or foreign nationals.

Some countries such as the US even carry a warning on their website for children travelling to or from Pakistan, due to its current status as a non-signatory.

With the signing of the convention, Pakistan will be on track to receive wide acclaim from The Hague itself, as well as at the forum of the UN General Assembly, scheduled for next month.

Published in The Nation newspaper on 24-Aug-2016

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

The Hague Abduction Convention, Second Edition


The Second Edition of my book, The Hague Abduction Convention: Practical Issues and Procedures for Family Lawyers, has just been released.  Read below for some info about the book, and follow the link at the bottom of this post to purchase the Second Edition.
 
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Handling Hague abduction cases is challenging and fulfilling. Although Hague cases are tried very quickly, they still require an intimate knowledge of the Convention and of the voluminous case law that has developed around it.  Hague cases also require a complete understanding of international child custody law in general and in particular, for U.S. practitioners, of the relationship between The Hague Convention and the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction & Enforcement Act.
The Convention operates in the U.S. in ways that differ from those in other Hague countries.  This is because of the federal legislation that implements the treaty, the concurrence of federal and state jurisdiction, the lack of a specialized group of judges who handle cases under the Convention, the uniform state legislation on child custody jurisdiction, and a host of other factors.
When children are the subject of international family law disputes, the challenges are often great and emotions generally run high.  Simply put, money can be divided but children cannot.  This book is a must-have resource of any family law practitioner that wants to represent the best interests of his client and their heirs involved in a Hague case.

Wednesday, August 03, 2016

Canadian Court Upholds Expert Report on Risk of Child's Travel to Japan


In a custody case in British Columbia, Canada, the BC Supreme Court has accepted as an expert report my report on the international family law elements of the case with a particular reference to the abduction dangers of a child’s proposed visit to Japan, quoted extensively from my report, used the report as the basis for ordering sole custody of the subject child and re-affirmed certain non-removal and passport orders.