The Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (hereafter ‘the Convention’) provides for cooperation between its 101 signatory States to ensure that a child abducted from their State of habitual residence in breach of rights of custody is returned forthwith, unless one of the limited Convention exceptions to return applies. The return will usually, but not always, be to the child’s State of habitual residence. Dyer discusses the Convention’s intrusion upon the jurisdiction of the courts in the country to which the child has been taken, even if that is the country of the child’s nationality, and the insistence that the child be returned, so that the courts of another country can exercise jurisdiction over the merits of custody.1 This is because the Convention is premised on the assumption that it is best for children not to be abducted and, if they are, for them to be returned promptly, so their future can be decided by a court in the country with the closest connection to the child.

The Convention’s emphasis on prompt return is designed to protect children internationally from the harmful effects of their wrongful removal or retention.2 Unlike most other family law matters, the focus in the Convention is on the jurisdiction, not the child’s welfare, unless one of the limited exceptions to return applies. It is important to note, given the subject of this contribution, that these exceptions do not include a provision specifically providing for the non-return of a child because of domestic violence or abuse suffered by the abducting parent. (From the Introduction). Record #8035