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Vol.1979/0121

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(79)321final
Brussels.19thJune1979
CUSTODY OFCHILDREN
(INTERIMREPORTFROMTHECOMMISSION TOTHECOUNCIL)
\"7
EreS#3R,V1
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C0MC79)321final

INTERIM REPORT
FROM THE COMMISSION "TOTHE COUNCIL
Custody ofchildren .
TheCommission hasthehonour tomake thefollowing interim
report totheCouncil onthesubject ofcustody ofchildren# On9October
1978 theCouncil decided that theCommission should present this report
tothe Council within six months .
Asrequired "bytheCouncil 'sdecision ,this report records
the results achieved and theprospeots ofsuccess ofthework undertaken
inthis field "bytheCouncil ofEurope and "bytheHague Conference on
Private International Law .Italso deals with thequestion whether ,for
thepurposes oftheEuropean Communities ,anyaddicional solution or,in­
deed ,aquite separate solution ,isrequired .^(Council document R/3578/78,
JUR188)of22/L2/L978).
Inpursuance ofthe Council 'sdecision theCommission arran­
gedameeting inBrussels on17January 1979 acommittee made up
ofgovernmental experts with observers from theHague Conference and
from theCounoil ofEurope ,It "became clear during thecourse ofthat
meeting that thework oftheHague Conference hadonly just begun .The
Hague Conference Secretariat haddrawn upareport andquestionnaire (l)
bywayofpreparatory work forthe first meeting ofacommittee of
experts ,whometatTheHague from 12to22March 1979 *Their intention at
present isnotsimply toproduce anewconvention butacompound of
preventive measures andofmeasures ofmutual assistance ,inthe
administrative andjudicial fields ,which will ensure that the
child isreturned toitscountry oforigin .Central authori –
(l)Replies tothequestionnaire were received from 22ofthe28Member
Countries ofthe Conference .

ties should besetupineach State toprovide adequate information ser­
vices ontheonehand ,andtoprevent kidnapping ofchildren ortoremedy it
ifithappens .Itwould bereasonable toanticipate that thework ofthe
Hague Conference will produce positive results in1980 ,when theConference
holds its14^Session .Proper measures should ,however ,betaken toen­
sure that those positive results are not atvariance with the convention
which isbeing prepared bytheCouncil -ofEurope .
TheCouncil ofEurope 'swork aims tocreate aconvention onrecog­
nition andenforcement .This work hasprogressed much further than that
oftheHague Conference .Itcommenced in1973 .Originally itspurpose was
toprepare adraft convention onrecognition and enforcement ofjudgments
awarding custody ofchildren ,andtoprepare asecond draft convention on
the creation ofaninternational court for the settlement ofconflicts
arising inthat field .Thefirst draft wasexpanded in1976 andnowcovers '
thequestion ofrestoration ofcustody i.e. theimportant matter ofunlaw­
fulremoval from thejurisdiction .After thefinal meeting ofexperts ,from
29January to3February 1979 inStrasbourg ,thedraft was sent tothe
Governments fortheir comments .These should bepresented bytheendof
Mayandwill beexamined bytheCouncil ofEurope 'sLegal Co-operation
Steering Committee inJuly 1979 *
Thegovernmental experts whomet on17January 1979 »attherequest
»
oftheCommission ,discussed aproposal which hadbeen made bytheBelgian
delegation whereby theCouncil ofEurope 'stexts might beimproved and
simplified .Thedraft convention prepared bytheCouncil ofEurope was
made upinsuch awaythat some parts ofthe text were capable ofstanding
bythemselves .Thus aState would beable toaccede totheprovisions
dealing with custody butneed notaccede tothose dealing with restoration
ofcustody ,orvice versa .AState could ,of'course ,subsoribe tothe
provisions onboth ofthose matters .

-3-
TheBelgian proposal sought toconvert theCouncil ofEurope 's
texts into acomposite whole .Itsought also toreduce thenumber of
grounds ofrefusal (which were considered toonumerous )andtoprevent
thecourt inthe State addressed from modifying the judgment forrestoration
ofcustody where anapplication forrestoration wasmade during theperiod
ofsixmonths following theunlawful removal ofthechild .This proposal
wasusefully examined on17January 1979 inBrussels "byexperts from the
Nine ,wa3discussed inStrasbourg from 29January to3February andwasthere
adopted subject tocertain amendments which would inter alia make available
totheContracting States anumber ofadditional grounds onwhich recognition
could berefused ,even where restoration were applied forduring the six
month period .Itwould bedesirable that thegovernments oftheFine adopt a
common point ofview asregards theCouncil ofEurope 'sdrafts which they have
received forcomment -acommon point ofview especially asregards there?-
servations tobemade –sothat thenine Member States which form theEuropean
Communties arebound reciprocally inthis particularly delicate matter .
TheCouncil asked theCommission toexamine thequestion whether ,
forthepurposes oftheEC,anyadditional solution or,indeed ,quite separate
solution ,isrequired .
The Commission would like tocontribute toasuccessful outcome
ofthework nowbeing done bythetwoorganisations aforesaid bycollabora­
ting with them andbyavoiding anyduplication ofwork .Experience hasshown ,
however ,that invarious branches ofcivil lawasubject mayquite success­
fully beregulated atinternational level bymeans ofcomplementary con­
ventions .Thus theCouncil ofEuropt .&draft provides that theContracting
states will useasimple andspeedy form ofprocedure forpurposes ofrecog­
nition andenforcement ofjudgments (inparticular ,anapplication for
recognition andenforcement should becapable 3ofbeing dealt with upon
simple demand ).Indeed ,ifitisdesirable that theNine should establish
asimilar form ofprocedure amongst themselves ,inorder tosupplement the
prospective Strasbourg convention ,they could adopt theprocedure provided
forintheBrussels Convention of27September 1968 *orusethat procedure

-4-
asthebasis forasuitable one .This answer totheproblem cannot ,of
course ,beenvisaged until thetexts nowbeing drafted intheCouncil of
Europe have been signed .Itmust btepointed out ,however ,that certain
delegations were very hesitant about theCommunity 'sgetting involved in
m
thematter ofcustody ofchildren .They took theview that theCommunity
hasnoauthority under theTreaties todoso.
Itistoo early atthemoment toexpress any opinion about the
twopoints raised bytheCouncil i.e. theprospects ofsuccess ofthework
being done bythetwosaid organisations ,andwhether additional measures ,
or,possibly ,quite separate measures ,arerequired atCommunity level .
Itwill ,however ,bepossible toform afairly exact view after July
next about theresults oftheCouncil ofEurope 'swork and about the
effects itwill have asregards theEC.
This report should beregarded asaninterim report .TheCom­
mission will report afresh totheCounoil assoon asthere hasbeen
anymore specific movement inthematter .
Itshould berecorded that atthemeeting ofexperts which was
arranged bytheCommission ,theFrench delegation expressed theopinion
that' acentral authority should forthwith besetupineach Member State
whose role would betofacilitate the restoration ofchildren unlaw­
fully removed from oneState toanother .
TheFrench delegation also expressed itsGovernment 'sintention
tomake aproposal inthenear future that thecompetence ofthesaid cen­
tral authority should bewidened soastocover other branches ofcivil
law .Inthis waymutual assistance between theNine could bedeveloped ,
particularly forthepurpose offacilitating theapplication oftheBrussels
Convention of27September 1968 asregards service ofjudicial andextra­
judicial documents ,ornotification thereof .
TheCommission cannot butapprove this constructive proposal

Inconclusion :
1.There issome justification forthinking that thework which ,hasre­
cently been started bytheHague Conference onPrivate International Law
will result inthe adoption ofpreventive measures and ofmeasures of
mutual assistance ,intheadministrative andjudicial fields ,which ,will
"beeffective toensure that the child isreturned tohiscountry of
origin .
2.TheMember States oftheCommunity should adopt acommon point ofview
concerning thedraft conventions oftheCouncil ofEurope ,which have
been submitted togovernments fortheir views ,sothat theNine undertake
reciprocal obligations onthesubject ofcustody andrestoration of
custody .
3.After theCouncil ofEurope 'sconventions have been signed ,itmight be
desirable fortheNine toconcert their views forthepurpose ofagreeing
anysupplementary action .Itmight ,forfexample ,bedesirable toadopt
inrelation torecognition andenforcement ofdecisions asimple and
speedy form ofprocedure such asthat provided forintheBrussels Con­
vention of27September 1968 onjurisdiction andenforcement ofjudg­
ments incivil and commercial matters .