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The Hague Child Abduction Convention andCooperation between Contracting States
A Study on the Hague Child Protection Convention,
Child Supeort Convention and Maintenance Protocol(summary)
Yuko NISHITANIProfessor at Kyoto University Graduate School of Law

Pursuant to the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention, a child, who habitually resides in Contracting State A and has been wrongfully removed to or retained in Contracting State B by the caking parent (''TP") in breach of rights of custody of the left behindparent ("LBP"), is promptly returned co Scace A. The Convention ensures chat State B as
the state of refuge does not decide on the merits of custody, leaving it to the competenceof Seate A as che state of origin. By duly distributing jurisdiction between contracting
states, the Convention deters forum shopping and conflicting custody decisions. Moreover, the Convention ensures char the parent living in a different country from the childbe provided with frequent access to the child. The mechanism of the Convention,
grounded on administrative and judicial cooperation, serves co realize best interests of thechild and respect the right of the child to maintain personal relations and regular contact
with both parents under the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The Hague Child Abduction Convention has so far attracted 101 contracting states. Japan accepted the Convention on 24 January 2014, and it entered into force on 1st April
2014 along with its Implementation Acc. While judicial practice has gradually been installed since then and the Implementation Act was amended in 2019 to strengthen the enforcement of return orders, there are remaining challenges of how best co implement return procedures, ensure a safe return of the child, carry out execution by substitution,employ habeas corpus orders, and coordinate jurisdiction on the merits of custody, access,and provisional measures. A viable and effective way for Japan co tackle these casks could
be the ratification of the 1996 Hague Child Protection Convention, as well as the 2007
Hague Child Support Convention and Maintenance Protocol. Although states in theAsia-Pacific have scarcely joined them, these instruments provide an appropriate legal
framework for protecting the child and complementing the operation of the Child Abduction Convention through administrative and judicial cooperation.

[Yuko NISHITANI]The Hague Child Abduction Convention and Cooperation
between Contracting States (summary)

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Against chis background, the underlying paper aims to study the meaning, structure,and mechanism of the 1996 Child Protection Convention, as well as the 2007 Child Support Convention and Maintenance Protocol, and analyze the way they interact with andcomplement the Child Abduction Convention. After comparing these instruments withthe existing private international law rules in Japan, this paper considers drawbacks andgaps in domestic law and envisages the possibility of Japan joining these instruments,
which will necessarily entail some statutory amendments. Through these examinations,this study highlights the significance and advantage for Japan to cake part in the official
and unofficial network created by the Hague instruments co enhance child protection in
the international arena.
Notably, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on 8 July 2020, urging Japan coabide by the Child Abduction Convention and the UN Convention on the Rights of theChild, with a view to effecting a prompt return of and access to the abducted child, andintroducing joint custody after divorce. Diplomatic negotiations also took place between
former Prime Minister Abe and the heads of Germany, France, and Italy. In today's globalized world, with an increasing number of cross-border family relationships, every state including Japan ought to observe the international standard of child protection and give
form to the best interests of the child. Arguably, to improve the practice of the Child Abduction Convention, it is time for Japan to consider ratifying the 1996 Child Protection
Convention, as well as the 2007 Child Support Convention and Maintenance Protocol.