Posts
The U.S. State Department has recently released their annual
report on International Child Abduction. Below is our third post in a series
here focusing on the twelve countries classified as “demonstrating patterns of
noncompliance.” Today’s country is Brazil.
Country
Summary: The Hague Abduction Convention has been in force
between the United States and Brazil since 2003. In 2017, Brazil demonstrated a
pattern of noncompliance. Specifically, Brazil’s judicial branch regularly
fails to implement and comply with the provisions of the Convention. As a
result of this failure, 35 percent of requests for the return of abducted
children under the Convention remained unresolved for more than 12 months. On
average these cases were unresolved for five years and 11 months. Brazil has
been cited as noncompliant since 2006.
Initial
Inquiries: In 2017, the Department received two initial
inquiries from parents regarding possible abductions to Brazil where no
completed applications were submitted to the Department.
Significant
Developments: The Brazilian Ministry of Justice,
Ministry of External Relations, and judiciary collaborated on two
Convention-specific judicial seminars held in November and December 2017. The
Ministry of Justice and the judiciary are also working to consolidate the
jurisdictions in which Convention cases can be heard. The Brazilians report
their goal in consolidating jurisdictions is to help ensure that Convention
cases are heard by judges who are familiar with the Convention. These
initiatives demonstrate that Brazil is making some efforts to improve
Convention compliance in the judiciary.
Central
Authority: The United States and the Brazilian Central
Authorities have a strong and productive relationship that facilitates the
resolution of abduction cases under the Convention.
Voluntary
Resolution: The Convention states that central
authorities "shall take all appropriate measures to secure the voluntary
return of the child or to bring about an amicable resolution of the
issues." In 2017, two abduction cases were resolved through voluntary
means.
Location:
In some cases, the competent authorities delayed taking appropriate steps to
locate a child after a Convention application was filed. The average time to
locate a child was five months and four days.
Judicial
Authorities: Brazilian judicial authorities
demonstrated a pattern of noncompliance with the Convention due to serious
delays in deciding Convention cases. As a result of these delays, cases may be
pending with the judiciary for over one year.
Enforcement:
As a result serious delays by the Brazilian judicial authorities in deciding
Convention cases, the United States is not aware of any instances where law
enforcement was asked to enforce a return order in 2017.
Department
Recommendations: The Department will continue intense
engagement with the Brazilian authorities to address issues of concern and
expand public diplomacy activities related to the resolution of cases
Access: In 2017, the U.S. Central Authority acted on a
total of seven open access cases under the Convention in Brazil. Of these, two
cases were opened in 2017. A total of six access cases have been filed with the
Brazilian Central Authority, including one that was filed initially in 2017. By
December 31, 2017, one case (14%) has been resolved and one case has been closed
for other reasons. By December 31, 2017, five access cases remained open,
including three that have been pending with the Brazilian authorities for more
than 12 months.
