Trinidad And Tobago Accedes To 1980 Hague Convention

May 31, 2013

Source: Jamaica-Gleaner.com

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Trinidad and Tobago says it has acceded to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects on International Child Abduction.

The Convention, also known as The Hague Abduction Convention, is a multilateral treaty developed by the Hague Conference on Private International Law that provides an expeditious method to return a child internationally abducted by a parent from one member nation to another.

The Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction seeks to combat parental child abduction by providing a system of co-operation between Central Authorities and a rapid procedure for the return of the child to the country of the child’s habitual residence. The Convention applies only to children under the age of 16.

“Although international child abduction is not a new problem, the incidence of such abductions continues to grow with the ease of international travel, the increase in bi-cultural marriages and the rise in the divorce rate. International child abductions have serious consequences for both the child and the left-behind parent,” according to a government statement issued here.

“ The child is removed, not only from contact with the other parent, but also from his or her home environment and transplanted to a culture with which he or she may have had no prior ties. International abductors move the child to another State with a different legal system, social structure, culture and, often, language. These differences, plus the physical distance generally involved, can make locating, recovering and returning internationally abducted children complex and problematic.”

The statement said that in keeping with the measures outlined in the convention, the Civil Child Abduction Authority has since been established “to deal with all matters relating to the civil aspects of international child abduction between Trinidad and Tobago and contracting territories”.

It said that so far Trinidad and Tobago has partnered with 48 countries.

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What is Parental Child Abduction?

December 31, 2012

Parental child abduction occurs when a person who is connected to a child takes them away from their country of habitual residence, that is the country they normally reside in, without the permission of either those with parental responsibility or the courts.

Most commonly, this takes place following a separation or divorce and is carried out by the parent who has not been awarded custody of the child.

Once a relatively rare phenomenon, an increase in cross-cultural marriages, higher divorce rates, changes in immigration laws and cheaper foreign travel have prompted a rise in international child custody disputes, some of which have resulted in parental child abduction as parents seek to take their children out of the country without permission.

Is It A Criminal Offence For A Parent To Abduct A Child?

Under the Child Abduction Act of 1984, it is a criminal offence for anyone connected with a child to take them out of the UK for more than 28 days without the consent of any other person who has parental responsibility for that child or a consenting order from the courts. A person is connected with the child if they are parent of the child, guardian or special guardian, anyone who has a residence order for the child or who has the child living with them.

Those required to give their consent would be the mother, the father (if he has parental responsibility), guardian, special guardian or anyone who has the child living with them or has permission from the court.

Also read: Expert: Parental abduction never in child’s best interest , Parental abduction

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Snatchback of Abducted Children – Parental Abduction

ABP World Group – International Child Recovery Service

The goal of ABP World Group international child recovery services is to locate, negotiate and recover your missing child.

We can dispatch personnel to most locations in the world; we specialize in locating missing children up to ages 18. Areas of expertise: Parental abduction, Missing children, Kidnappings, Runaway children and Counseling. Unfortunately in this day and time parental kidnapping happens and we are here to help you trough this difficult period. We are aware parental child abduction can be difficult to resolve, but we use professional operatives with the skills and expertise to help find a resolution.

Time is a very important factor if a child is missing / Abducted

Although nobody hopes to be in such a situation where this information is needed, parents have to keep in mind that child abduction can occur anytime, anywhere, to any child. Therefore, parents must have the resources and knowledge about their children ready, so they can take action if their children become missing.

Areas of expertise: Parental abduction, Missing children, Kidnappings,
Runaway children and Counselling.

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England: Parental child abduction arrest

A man has been arrested in London on suspicion of parental child abduction.

 

A 45-year-old man was yesterday arrested in London on suspicion of parental child abduction.

The man is believed to have taken three children from the Banbridge area, on Thursday, 29 March, to Dublin airport where he was intercepted by An Garda Siochana.

The three children were taken into protective custody before the man boarded a flight to London. The man was later arrested when he re-entered the UK jurisdiction in Heathrow airport yesterday. PSNI officers accompanied him back to Northern Ireland this morning and he is currently assisting them with their enquiries.

The operation involved E District CID and Response Police as well as mutual assistance from authorities including An Garda Siochana.

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Kidnap and extortion

Source: SOCA

The threat of kidnap continues to concern UK communities, law enforcement, and commerce and industry throughout the world. This is despite the fact that the UK is acknowledged by the United Nations as a world leader in reducing the harm caused by kidnap and blackmail offences. High profile kidnaps abroad cause harm at international, community and regional level. 

During 2008/09, police forces reported 2,034 kidnappings to the Home Office, a slight increase (2%) on 2007/08. Nonetheless, in recent years the overall trend in reported kidnaps is downward and the current figure is almost 30% less than in 2001/02 (2,795).  In practice, however, the true kidnapping figures are unknown.

Different types of kidnap

It’s likely that many kidnaps go unreported, as often the hostage and the person subject to the kidnappers’ demands are themselves criminals and have no wish to involve the law. These “vendetta kidnaps” generally revolve around debt disputes, for example linked to drug deals.

“Tiger kidnaps” involve the holding of a hostage, usually a close relative of the victim, to force the victim to facilitate a robbery.

Kidnappings abroad

Overseas, UK nationals are at greater risk of kidnap in areas of recent conflict or instability. There has also been an increase in the kidnapping of foreign nationals, for example in Pakistan, with ransom demands being made to overseas family members, including those in the UK.

In South Africa, criminals commit fraud by deceiving people to invest in items such as scrap metal and then lure victims to the country to be kidnapped to obtain ransom money. This technique has previously been associated with criminals in west Africa, including Nigeria.

Extortion / blackmail

Blackmail covers a multitude of criminal activities, including product contamination, and uses threats to get money, although other demands may also be made.

As with kidnaps, the true extent of blackmail and extortion offences (including “protection rackets”) by serious organised criminals is not known.  Fear, and damage to reputation in the case of retail businesses, may make victims unwilling to report instances.

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Happy New Year

We wish all our friends a happy new year

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Child abduction. Why the law has to change

Source: Armstronglegal.com

by Lucinda Bordignon on December 31, 2011

The statistics about abduction of children from Australia are shocking. For example, on average 2 to 3 children are wrongfully removed from Australia or kept in another country overseas every week by one of their parents.

The Federal Government has heeded recommendations of the Family Law Council of Australia and has proposed to implement laws giving the Family Court of Australia the power to stop child support payments that are paid to parents who abduct their children from Australia.

You might find yourself asking; why are these legislative changes necessary? Well, as the law currently stands, a parent who takes a child overseas for a holiday with the other parent’s consent and who then keeps the child overseas for longer than the other parent originally consented to(i.e. they only consented to the holiday) is not actually breaking any Australian law.

Essentially, the legislative changes proposed by the Federal Government, namely the proposed laws that will give the Family Court the power to stop child support payments being paid to parents who abduct their children from Australia, is aimed to deter this abhorrent behaviour.

Not only does the abduction of children from Australia have negative impacts on the wellbeing of the child who is abducted; it has adverse emotional and financial impacts on parents too.

Attorney General Robert McClelland strongly supports the proposed legislative change. The Federal Government proposes to implement its new legislation in the first half of 2012.  Hopefully the proposed legislative amendments will deter child abduction and provide parents (and children) with much needed peace of mind.

For specialist family law advice from a lawyer who has expertise in this area of law, please contact us  to speak with a family lawyer and obtain legal advice tailored to your circumstances.

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Japan – United States : Gov’t to set up 7 panels to deal with parental child abduction issue

Source: Japan Today

TOKYO —

The Japanese department in charge of the issue of abductions of Japanese citizens by North Korea announced plans this week to create seven subcommittees to be more proactive in resolving the issue.

Led by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, the government task force for the abduction issue said it plans to go on the offensive in light of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il’s death. The seven panels will be mobilized to gather information and work toward a solution to the problem that many Japanese citizens say hasn’t received enough attention in the past.

Relatives of the abductees have called on the government to take advantage of the transition of power in North Korea to approach Pyongyang on reopening the investigation.

The subcommittees will meet over the course of about two months, and will focus on strategy, enforcement, international cooperation and other themes. Each subcommittee will be headed by a senior vice minister.

Noda said, “Given the current North Korea situation, I want to lay out guidelines and strengthen our ability to resolve this issue,” NHK reported.

Noda has already asked Chinese and South Korean leaders to tell North Korea’s new leadership that it “must make progress” in addressing the aduction issue if bilateral ties are to be improved.

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Bortförda Barn: Fler barn förs bort från Sverige

Source: SvD

Fler barn förs bort utomlands av en förälder. Och UD tror att utvecklingen kommer att fortsätta.

Fler barn förs bort utomlands av en förälder. För fem år sedan var antalet ärenden där barn förts bort 72, i fjol var motsvarande siffra 108 och hittills i år ligger den redan på 110, rapporterar Sveriges Radios Ekot.

Just nu arbetar utrikesdepartementet (UD) med 120 öppna ärenden gällande bortförda barn de senaste åren.

Den uppåtgående trenden beror enligt UD till stor del på att vi reser och flyttar allt mer mellan olika länder och bildar familj över gränserna.

UD bedömer att utvecklingen med fler bortförda barn kommer att fortsätta.

– Antalet bortförda barn har ökat ganska tydligt sedan 2004. Det är i dag vanligare med familjebildningar över gränserna och vi ser tydligt att det slår igenom i utvecklingen över ärendena, säger Anders Jörle, presschef på utrikesdepartementet.

Det finns också ett mörkertal.

– Hur stort det är vågar vi inte ha någon uppfattning om, säger Jörle.

Oftast är det mamman som för bort sitt barn – det gäller i sex av tio fall, enligt UD.

Det är mycket vanligare att fall klaras upp om barnet förts till ett land som tillämpar Haagkonventionen. Då brukar 85 procent av barnen kunna återföras. För länder som inte är bundna av konventionen är siffran 30 procent.

– Då gäller det landets lagstiftning och vi får söka diplomatiska vägar att gå fram. Det kan vara komplicerat i länder med en mer patriarkal lagstiftning som ger mannen all rätt, säger Anders Jörle.

Han framhåller också att alla uppklarade fall inte är lyckliga.

– Att det blir uppklarat betyder att fallet får en juridisk lösning i enlighet med konventionen, som tar sin utgångspunkt i hur barnet mår. Det är ett betydande problem att utredningarna drar ut på tiden. Då kan bedömningen av barnets väl ändras under tidens gång.

Oftast försvinner barn då den ena föräldern tagit med dem på semester till hemlandet. Men barn kan också rövas bort från skolan eller helt enkelt inte återlämnas efter umgänge. Det säger Ia Sweger, advokat som företräder många föräldrar som har fått sina barn bortförda.

– Ofta sker det i ett läge där föräldern känner på sig att den ska förlora vårdnadstvisten och tar lagen i egna händer, säger Ia Sweger.

Bortförandet vittnar om en stark misstro mellan föräldrarna.

– Många gånger är det en djupgående konflikt med anklagelser om både det ena och det andra. Folk förlorar helt omdömet om vad som är bäst för barnet.

Published by: ABP World Group International Child Recovery Services

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Parental Child Abduction: More kids abducted from Sweden

Source: The Local

Over 100 children have been abducted and taken overseas by one of their parents in each of the past two years, reflecting a significant rise on on 2006, according to a report by Sveriges Radio’s Ekot news programme.

The Swedish foreign ministry is currently working with 134 ongoing cases regarding the abduction of children by one of their parents in recent years.

So far this year 100 children have been taken out of the country, continuing a rising trend from 2010 which saw 108 children whisked away.

The figures indicate a significant rise on 2006 when 72 children were abducted.

The foreign ministry explained the increasing trend as due to changing migration habits, increased travel and more marriages which span international marriages.

According to the foreign ministry the best chance of locating an abducted child is if he/she has been taken to one of the 80 signatories to the Hague Abduction Convention which came into force in 1980.

The primary intention of the Hague Convention is to preserve the status quo child custody arrangement which existed immediately before an alleged wrongful removal.

The foreign ministry advises that if a child has been taken to a country which is not a signatory to the convention, repatriation is further complicated.

Sweden ratified the convention in 1989.

Published by: ABP World Group International Child Recovery Services

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