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Page Number: 17.0

14 

GOLAN v. SAADA 

Opinion of the Court 

Art. 11, Treaty Doc., at 9.10  Timely resolution of return pe-
titions is important in part because return is a “provisional”
remedy to enable final custody determinations to proceed. 
Monasky, 589 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 3) (internal quotation 
marks  omitted).    The  Convention  also  prioritizes  expedi-
tious  determinations  as  being  in  the  best  interests  of  the 
child because “[e]xpedition will help minimize the extent to
which uncertainty adds to the challenges confronting both 
parents  and  child.”  Chafin  v.  Chafin,  568  U. S.  165,  180 
(2013).  A requirement to “examine the full range of options
that might make possible the safe return of a child,” Blon-
din II, 238 F. 3d, at 163, n. 11, is in tension with this focus 
on expeditious resolution.  In this case, for example, it took 
the District Court nine months to comply with the Second
Circuit’s directive on remand.  Remember, the Convention 
requires courts to resolve return petitions “us[ing] the most 
expeditious procedures available,” Art. 2, Treaty Doc., at 7,
and to provide parties that request it with an explanation
if proceedings extend longer than six weeks, Art. 11, id., at 
9.  Courts should structure return proceedings with these
  Consideration  of  ameliorative 
instructions  in  mind.
measures should not cause undue delay in resolution of re-
turn petitions.

To summarize, although nothing in the Convention pro-
hibits  a  district  court  from  considering  ameliorative 
measures,  and  such  consideration  often  may  be  appropri-

—————— 

10 Conferring  with  other  countries,  when  necessary  to  resolve  a  peti-
tion, need not take long.  The Hague Conference on Private International 
Law, the intergovernmental organization that adopted the Hague Con-
vention, has an extensive list of cases and references to practices of vir-
tually all the signatory countries.  Moreover, the Conference has estab-
lished  a  network  of  judges  in  signatory  countries  who  are  available  to 
engage  in  direct  judicial  communications  about  the  application  of  the 
Convention.  See Hague Conference on Private Int’l Law, The Interna-
tional Hague Network of Judges, https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/
conventions/specialised-sections/child-abduction/ihnj.