Families Across Borders | law, policy, news and views
Preview 2013: Chafin v. Chafin
The United States Supreme Court is expected to rule this spring on Chafin v. Chafin, a case under the Hague Child Abduction Convention that was argued on December 5. Previous posts are here and here.
Korea joins Abduction Convention
With the accession of the Republic of Korea earlier this month, the Hague Child Abduction Convention now has a total of 89 contracting states. The Convention will enter into force in Korea on March 1, 2013.
Hague Abduction Arguments in Supreme Court
This week marked the second appearance of the Hague Child Abduction Convention in the U.S. Supreme Court, with the oral arguments in Chafin v. Chafin (see my previous post here). The argument was covered by Adam Liptak for the New York Times, “Custody Case in Scotland Goes Before U.S. Justices” (Dec. 6, 2012), and Robert Barnes [...]
New Supreme Court Term
The U.S. Supreme Court begins its new Term today with a Hague Child Abduction case on the docket, set for argument on Wednesday, December 5, 2012. Chafin v. Chafin (#11-1347) will address a Circuit-split question regarding whether the return of a child to the habitual residence moots an appeal in the case. Here is the link to the question [...]
Two more countries join the Child Protection Convention
Last week, Russia and Lesotho joined the Hague Child Protection Convention, bringing the total number of Contracting States to 38 once it enters into force in those countries in 2013. Lesotho also deposited its instruments of ratification for the Intercountry Adoption Convention (bringing the total number of Contracting States to 89) and the Abduction Convention [...]
New Book on Abduction Convention
Jeremy Morley has just published The Hague Abduction Convention: Practical Issues and Procedures for Family Lawyers (2012). It’s available here from ABA Publishing.
Supreme Court Takes New Hague Abduction Case
The U.S. Supreme Court has granted certiorari in Chafin v. Chafin, docket number 11-01347, to address a circuit split as to whether an order returning a child under the Hague Abduction Convention renders an appeal of that order moot. Chafin comes from the Eleventh Circuit, which treats such appeals as moot, see Bekier v. Bekier, 248 [...]
State Department Issues 2012 Hague Compliance Report
Following its mandate to report annually to Congress, the Office of Children’s Issues (OCI) in the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs has issued its 2012 “Report on Compliance with the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.” In addition, OCI has posted statistics for calendar year 2011 on new incoming [...]
Interesting Hague Abduction Decision in the 7th Circuit
Judge Richard Posner’s recent opinion in Khan v. Fatima considers the obligations of a trial court judge under Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a)(1) to make findings of fact in a Hague return proceeding. The Seventh Circuit reversed and remanded the return order in a case in which the district court judge held a one-day evidentiary hearing and ordered return without making findings [...]
New Projects for the Hague Conference
The Conclusions and Recommendations adopted by the Hague Conference General Affairs Council at its meeting in April 2012 include two interesting new projects in connection with the Child Abduction and Child Protection Conventions. The Council authorized a new Working Group to develop a Guide to Good Practice on the interpretation and application of Article 13(b) of [...]
