Online Mediation in Hague Convention Cases
The Hague Convention on Child Abduction 1980 (full name: Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, concluded in the Hague on 25 October 1980) is an international treaty aiming at prohibiting relocating the children abroad without the other parent consent and if such a relocation already took place unlawfully – to return the child to the country the child was abducted from.
It is a very powerful tool, where the application of law may have very severe effects on everybody involved and in particular – on the children who are being a subject of the dispute in between their parents.
Therefore the mediation in such cases is of extreme importance, and it really is a special type of mediation. It needs to be quick, it needs to embrace the multicultural aspects and it needs to aim at creating the long-term arrangement between the parents to prevent children being abducted back and forth from one country to another.
What is the essential kit for mediation in the Hague abduction case?
- Good lawyer with experience in both family law and the application of the Hague Convention;
- Experienced mediator/s being able to proceed quickly and meticulously in your language (or – best case scenario – all the languages involved) and with delicacy on all the cross-border issues relating to child/children to be mediated,
- A truly reliable on-line tool, enable to connect clients, lawyers and the mediator between the countries, continents, languages, time zones.
Please remember, that the mediation in the Hague Convention Cases is the only way to truly resolve the real issue – namely where the abducted child/children will live and what the visitation scheme (contacts, possession) will look like. The court proceedings themselves in the Hague Convention Cases will not solve those issues. They are designed only to establish the appropriate jurisdiction and are therefore of an auxiliary nature, in other words, they serve the purpose of establishing the country, in which the real process, handling the issues of the child’s residence and contacts, will be resolved on the merits.
In the mediation regarding the Hague Convention all the issues relating to the child will be resolved amicably and no other court proceedings will be necessary, which is cost effective, time saving, stress avoiding and – most important – focusing on the children and their welfare long-term.
