Opinion ID: 76527
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Stated Purpose of Hague Convention

Text: 89 Our conclusion here is consistent with the history and stated purposes of the Convention. As noted previously, the stated purpose of the Hague Convention is to protect children internationally from the harmful effects of their wrongful removal or retention and to establish procedures to ensure their prompt return to the State of their habitual residence, as well as to secure protection for their rights of access. Convention, intro. The Convention further states that its objects include ensuring that rights of custody and of access under the law of one Contracting State are effectively respected in other Contracting States. Convention, Art. 1(b). 12 90 This Court previously has emphasized that [t]he Hague Convention is intended to `restore the pre-abduction status quo and to deter parents from crossing borders in search of a more sympathetic court.' Lops, 140 F.3d at 936 (citing Friedrich, 78 F.3d at 1064). In this case, the Convention's purposes are served by ordering return of Jessica to Norway. Plaintiff Furnes and Defendant Reeves maintain joint parental responsibility under Norwegian law. While Defendant Reeves has primary physical custody and more decision-making authority than Furnes, Furnes nonetheless maintains joint parental rights under Norwegian law with regard to the care of his child. Furnes even has the right to determine whether Reeves can move Jessica's residence from Norway to the United States. Under these circumstances, sending the child back to Norway best respects the parties' rights under Norwegian law and the Hague Convention. 91 A return order effectively maintains the status quo with regard to custody of Jessica. A return order will not effect a change in custody (as Defendant Reeves argues) because she is free to accompany her child back to Norway and retain custody. Indeed, upon return to Norway, Defendant Reeves can seek a change in the Agreement to allow her to move with Jessica to the United States. On the other hand, the denial of Plaintiff Furnes's ICARA petition would allow Defendant Reeves to nullify the Agreement approved by the Norwegian Gulating Court of Appeals and to usurp Furnes's Norwegian law rights to care for his child. The specific purpose of the Hague Convention was to deter and amend the exact type of abduction in this case, not to bless it.