The convention stems from the response of 62 sovereign nations to the global problem of international child abduction. The overriding objective is to spare children the detrimental emotional effects associated with transnational parental kidnaping.
The Hague Convention was enacted 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 country of their habitual residence. The Convention intends to restore the pre-abduction status quo and deter parents from crossing borders in search of a more sympathetic court for custody hearings. To secure the prompt return of children wrongfully removed to or retained in any Contracting State.
The Convention is premised upon the notion that the child should be promptly restored to his or her country of habitual residence so that a court there can examine the merits of the custody dispute and award custody in the child’s best interest.
This post is also available in: Spanish