III

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 69

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 22, 2001

Received

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Congress on the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and urging all Contracting States to the Convention

to recommend the production of practice guides.

Whereas 20 years ago, the Hague Convention on the Civil

Aspects of International Child Abduction was a bold step

forward to provide a uniform process for resolving international child abduction cases;

Whereas over the past 2 decades, the Convention has had increasingly important and positive effects and has grown
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in terms of the number of Contracting States and the

level of interest of other nations;

Whereas there has been an increase of multinational marriages and a corresponding increase of international abductions of children by parents;

Whereas as travel becomes faster and easier, and as multinational marriages become more common, the Convention

is more significant than ever;

Whereas on 2 occasions, the International Centre for Missing

and Exploited Children and the National Center for

Missing and Exploited Children have convened professionals and experts in international child abduction to examine their experiences with the Convention;

Whereas on both occasions, the participants affirmed their

overwhelming commitment to the Convention, but were

also unified in the conclusion that there are serious shortcomings in its implementation;

Whereas the shortcomings include—

(1) a lack of awareness by policy makers and the

general public of the Convention and of the problem of

international child abduction, making the successful resolution of cases more difficult;

(2) the fact that, in too many instances, the process

for resolving an international child abduction is too slow;

(3) a lack of uniformity in the interpretation of the

Convention from nation to nation;

(4) the fact that key exceptions provided in the Convention to ensure reason and common sense have in some

cases ceased to be viewed as exceptions, have instead become the rule, and are frequently used as justifications

for not returning abducted children;
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(5) the increasing difficulty of enforcing access

rights for parents under Article 21 of the Convention;

(6) the need of parents for significant personal financial resources to obtain legal representation and proceed under the Convention and, in many places, the lack

of assistance for parents who do not have such resources;

(7) a serious lack of training, knowledge, and experience for judges in international child abduction cases, because there are too many courts hearing these cases and

in most instances few such cases for each court; and

(8) in many instances, the lack of enforcement of

court orders for the return of children;

Whereas the Permanent Bureau of The Hague Conference on

Private International Law has made significant contributions to the implementation of the Convention but recognizes that more needs to be done; and

Whereas the International Centre for Missing and Exploited

Children has promised to support an effort to produce

practice guides to provide a framework for applying the

Convention: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That—

3 (1) it is the sense of the Congress that—

4 (A) the original intent of the Hague Con5 vention on the Civil Aspects of International

6 Child Abduction—to provide a uniform process

7 for resolving international child abduction

8 cases—is more important than ever;

9 (B) practice guides should be developed for

10 the Convention that build on recognized best
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1 practices under the Convention and provide a

2 framework for applying the Convention;

3 (C) the Convention itself need not be modi4 fied;

5 (D) the practices identified and included in

6 the practice guides should not be legally binding

7 on Contracting States to the Convention and

8 should be based on research and the advice of

9 experts to help ensure the most effective proc10 ess possible;

11 (E) the practice guides should be developed

12 in 3 stages: comparative research and consulta13 tions, meetings of expert committees to develop

14 drafts, and consideration of the drafts by a fu15 ture Special Commission; and

16 (F) the Permanent Bureau of The Hague

17 Conference on Private International Law should

18 organize the process of developing the practice

19 guides; and

20 (2) the Congress urges all Contracting States to

21 the Convention to adopt a resolution recommending

22 that—

23 (A) the Permanent Bureau of The Hague

24 Conference on Private International Law

25 produce and promote practice guides to assist
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1 in the implementation and operation of the

2 Convention; and

3 (B) such a proposal to produce practice

4 guides be adopted by the Fourth Special Com5 mission at The Hague in March 2001.

Passed the House of Representatives March 22,

2001.

Attest: JEFF TRANDAHL,

Clerk.