The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, or Hague Abduction Convention is a multilateral treatydeveloped by the Hague Conference on Private International Law that provides an expeditious method to return a child internationally abductedfrom one member nation to another. Proceedings on the Convention concluded 25 October 1980 and the Convention entered into force between the signatory nations on 1 December 1983. The Convention was drafted to ensure the prompt return of children who have been abducted from their country of habitual residence or wrongfully retained in a contracting state not their country of habitual residence. The primary intention of the Convention is to preserve whatever status quo child custody arrangement existed immediately before an alleged wrongful removal or retention thereby deterring a parent from crossing international boundaries in search of a more sympathetic court. The Convention applies only to children under the age of 16.
As of April 2011, 84 States are party to the convention. The entry into force for Andorra on July 1, 2011 will bring that number to 85.
Japan, together with most Asian and African countries, is not a signatory to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which obliges signatories to promptly return abducted children to their country of habitual residence. Critics of the Japanese legal system say this refusal has the practical effect of facilitating international child abduction. The issue has become a cause for significant concern to signatory nations, the majority of which are Western countries.
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