Jim O'Keeffe
Question:16 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Equality and Law Reform whether he has satisfied himself with the operation of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of Child Abduction. [17402/96]
Written Answers. - Hague Convention.
Jim O'Keeffe
Question:17 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Equality and Law Reform whether full co-operation is available to his Department from other countries which are party to the Hague Convention in the Civil Aspects of Child Abduction; and if he will make a statement on the matter, particularly in relation to a recent case where children were abducted from west Cork and brought to France. [17401/96]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 and 17 together.
The possibility of recovering a child who has been wrongfully removed from the State or improperly retained abroad by a parent has improved greatly in recent years. The credit for this goes to the operation of two international conventions, the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and a Council of Europe Convention on child custody which were given the force of law in the State by the Child Abduction and Enforcement of Custody Orders Act, 1991. Prior to that legislation there were no formal arrangements whereby rights of custody of parents in the State could be recognised or enforced in another state. As well as important legal provisions in those conventions which facilitate recognition by foreign courts of rights of custody, a key feature of the conventions is that they provide for the establishment of a central authority in each contracting state to carry out functions which are specified in the conventions. All central authorities are obliged to initiate steps to trace a child; to seek the child's return or secure access to the child; to arrange, if necessary, for court proceedings to secure the return of, or access to, the child; and to collate and send to other central authorities information about the child.
In the operation of those functions, I can confirm that the central authority which operates in my Department for the purposes of both conventions has received full co-operation from other central authorities. The Deputy will appreciate that I could not undertake, in reply to questions, to discuss the details of any particular cases. I say that in the knowledge that from time to time some cases of child abduction get considerable publicity.
The total number of cases dealt with in 1995 by our central authority was 132. Of that figure, 62 were abductions into the State and 70 were abductions from the State. In 14 of those 62 cases of abductions into the State the court ordered the return of the children concerned; in two cases the court refused to return the children; in 19 cases the parties reached agreement, 16 applications were withdrawn and 11 cases were awaiting resolution at the end of the year.
In 18 of the 70 cases of abductions from the State foreign courts ordered the return of the children; in four cases the foreign courts refused to return the children, in 19 cases the parties reached agreement; 13 applications were withdrawn and 16 cases were awaiting resolution at the end of the year.
The operation of both conventions is the subject of regular review under the auspices of the relevant international organisations, namely, the Hague Conference on Private International Law and the Council of Europe. Both conventions provide specifically for those reviews and my Department has participated in them.