IV

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 69

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.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 20, 2001

Mr. LAMPSON (for himself, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. HORN, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mrs.

MINK of Hawaii, Mr. KOLBE, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey,

Mr. KIRK, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. FOLEY, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr.

SHIMKUS, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. BORSKI, Mrs. THURMAN, Mr. SANDLIN,

Mr. PASCRELL, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida,

Mr. FRANK, Mr. KIND, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. FARR of California, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. REYES, Mr. BACA, Mr. EDWARDS, Mr.

RODRIGUEZ, Mr. ORTIZ, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. GUTKNECHT, Mr. GREEN

of Texas, and Mr. BENTSEN) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

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;
2

•HCON 69 IH

Whereas over the past 2 decades, the Convention has had increasingly important and positive effects and has grown

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 be-
3

•HCON 69 IH

come the rule, and are frequently used as justifications

for not returning abducted children;

(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; 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
4

•HCON 69 IH

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 should organize the process of developing the

18 practice guides; and

19 (2) the Congress urges all Contracting States to

20 the Convention to adopt a resolution recommending

21 that—

22 (A) the Permanent Bureau of The Hague

23 produce and promote practice guides to assist

24 in the implementation and operation of the

25 Convention; and
5

•HCON 69 IH

1 (B) such a proposal to produce practice

2 guides be adopted by the Fourth Special Com3 mission at The Hague in March 2001.

Æ