NOTES ON LEBANON AND CHILD ABDUCTION

Jeremy D. Morley

Return of children abducted to or in Lebanon

• Jeremy Morley has testified as an expert witness with respect to the laws and practices of Lebanon in respect of international child abduction to Lebanon, and his testimony has been accepted and relied upon.

• There are extreme difficulties in returning a child to the United States from Lebanon when retained by a Lebanese parent.
• Lebanon is not a party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.
• There are no extradition treaties between Lebanon and the United States.
• Under Lebanese law, Lebanese nationals may prevent their wives and children (even if they are American citizens) from leaving Lebanon.
• Lebanon does not recognize international parental kidnapping as a crime.
• Issues of child custody and divorce in Lebanon are generally decided in religious courts under religious law. Thus, if the father is a Sunni Muslim and the mother is a Christian the custody of their children will normally be decided by a Sunni Muslim court.
• One might petition a civil court to handle a custody case instead of a religious court. The issue would be whether the religious court has jurisdiction. It could take up to two years to have the civil court assume jurisdiction and a minimum of four to five years to have the case decided.
• For Sunni Muslims, the mother has physical custody of her children until they are 12 years old, and then they are to be in the physical custody of their fathers.
• For Shia Muslims the mother's physical custody generally ends for boys at age 2 and for girls at age 7.
• For Druze, the mother's physical custody generally ends for boys at age 12 and for girls at age 14.
• For Christian Orthodox, mothers have custody of their daughters until the age of 15 and for sons until the age of 14.
• For Protestants, mothers have custody of their daughters until the age of 12 and of sons until the age of 13.  
• The Catholic Personal Status lawdoes not state a specific age but provides that mothers may nurse their babies until they are 2 years old.
• If a father establishes that the mother is unfit or lacking good moral character, she will lose any right to the child. Muslim law requires a child to be raised in the Muslim faith, and if it were proven that a mother tried to raise the child as a Christian, she could be found unfit.
• American/Lebanese dual nationals who carry Lebanese papers will be treated as Lebanese nationals by security authorities.
• A child who is a dual American and Lebanese citizen would be bound by Lebanese law in the eyes of the Lebanese civil courts.
• The U.S. State Department cannot offer any real assistance even if there were a United States court order directing the return of the child from Lebanon.

NOTES ON LEBANON AND CHILD ABDUCTION

by Jeremy D. Morley

Return of children abducted to or in Lebanon

• Jeremy Morley has testified as an expert witness with respect to the laws and practices of Lebanon in respect of international child abduction to Lebanon.
• There are extreme difficulties in returning a child to the United States from Lebanon when retained by a Lebanese parent.
  
• Lebanon is not a party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.
• There are no extradition treaties between Lebanon and the United States.
• Under Lebanese law, Lebanese nationals may prevent their wives and children (even if they are American citizens) from leaving Lebanon.
• Lebanon does not recognize international parental kidnapping as a crime.
• Issues of child custody and divorce in Lebanon are generally decided in religious courts under religious law. Thus, if the father is a Sunni Muslim and the mother is a Christian the custody of their children will normally be decided by a Sunni Muslim court.
• One might petition a civil court to handle a custody case instead of a religious court. The issue would be whether the religious court has jurisdiction. It could take up to two years to have the civil court assume jurisdiction and a minimum of four to five years to have the case decided.
• Among Sunni Muslims, the father has physical custody of a daughter over the age of nine and of a boy over the age of seven. For Shia Muslims the father generally has physical custody at for boys at age 2 and for girls at age 7.
• If a father establishes that the mother is unfit or lacking good moral character, she will lose any right to the child. Muslim law requires a child to be raised in the Muslim faith, and if it were proven that a mother tried to raise the child as a Christian, she could be found unfit.
• Lebanon does not recognize dual nationality. American/Lebanese dual nationals who carry Lebanese papers will be treated as Lebanese nationals by security authorities.
• A child who is a dual American and Lebanese citizen would be bound by Lebanese law in the eyes of the Lebanese civil courts.
• The U.S. State Department cannot offer any real assistance even if there were a United States court order directing the return of the child from Lebanon.

Lebanon & International Child Abduction

From the State Department's 2019 Report on International Child Abduction:

Lebanon demonstrated a pattern of noncompliance by persistently failing to work with the United States to resolve abduction cases in 2019.

Lebanon does not adhere to any protocols with respect to international parental child abduction. In 2004, the United States and Lebanon signed a Memorandum of Understanding to encourage voluntary resolution of abduction cases and facilitate consular access to abducted children.

In 2018, Lebanon demonstrated a pattern of noncompliance. Specifically, the competent authorities in Lebanon persistently failed to work with the Department of State to resolve abduction cases. As a result of this failure, 50 percent of requests for the return of abducted children remained unresolved for more than 12 months. On average, these cases were unresolved for two years and one month.

Lebanon was previously cited for demonstrating a pattern of noncompliance in the 2015 and 2016 Annual Reports.

Judicial Authorities: There is no clear legal procedure for addressing international parental child abduction cases under Lebanese law, and parents face difficulties resolving custody disputes in local courts.

Enforcement: Judicial decisions in Lebanon were generally not enforced, which contributed to a pattern of noncompliance. There was one case (accounting for 33 percent of the unresolved cases) that has been pending for more than 12 months in which law enforcement has failed to enforce a return order.

State Department's Annual Report on International Child Abduction: Lebanon

The U.S. State Department has recently released their annual report on International Child Abduction. Below is our seventh post in a series here focusing on the nine countries classified as “demonstrating patterns of noncompliance.”  Today’s country is Lebanon.

Country Summary: Lebanon does not adhere to any protocols with respect to international parental child abduction. In 2004, the United States and Lebanon signed a Memorandum of Understanding to encourage voluntary resolution of abduction cases and facilitate consular access to abducted children. In 2018, Lebanon demonstrated a pattern of noncompliance. Specifically, the competent authorities in Lebanon persistently failed to work with the Department of State to resolve abduction cases. As a result of this failure, 50 percent of requests for the return of abducted children remained unresolved for more than 12 months. On average, these cases were unresolved for two years and one month. Lebanon was previously cited for demonstrating a pattern of noncompliance in the 2015 and 2016 Annual Reports.

Initial Inquiries: In 2018 the Department received one initial inquiry from a parent regarding a possible abduction to Lebanon for which no additional assistance was requested or necessary documentation was not received as of December 31, 2018.

Central Authority: In 2018, the competent authorities in Lebanon worked closely with the Department of State to discuss improvements to the resolution of pending abduction cases. However, the options for resolving these cases under Lebanese law are limited.

Voluntary Resolution: In 2018, one abduction case was resolved through voluntary means.

Location: The Department of State did not request assistance with location from the Lebanese authorities.

Judicial Authorities: There is no clear legal procedure for addressing international parental child abduction cases under Lebanese law, and parents face difficulties resolving custody disputes in local courts.

Enforcement: Judicial decisions in Lebanon were generally not enforced, which contributed to a pattern of noncompliance. There was one case (accounting for 33 percent of the unresolved cases) that has been pending for more than 12 months in which law enforcement has failed to enforce a return order.

Department Recommendations: The Department will continue to encourage Lebanon to accede to the Convention