Since the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction was implemented in Japan in April of 2014, there have been two successful return proceedings. While both of the children involved in these proceedings were returned from foreign countries to their parent residing in Japan, these early cases show that the Japan Central Authority is gaining experience working with foreign governments to return children under the Hague Convention.
The first case took place in July, only a few months after the Hague Convention was implemented in Japan. It involved a Japanese couple, the mother and child living in Britain and the father living in Japan. The father petitioned for the return of the child but, rather than submit his application to the Japanese Central Authority, he submitted his request directly to the British authorities. As a result of his petition, a British court ordered his wife to return their child to Japan. While this technically concluded in a successful return of the child, the father bypassed the Japanese foreign ministry and Central Authority and therefore it cannot be said to have been a successful test of Japan’s implementation of the Convention.
The second case occurred more recently and involved an American husband and a Japanese wife. After Japan implemented the Hague Convention, the American father took the couple’s 8 year old child to live in Switzerland, leaving his wife in Japan. In response, the wife petitioned the Japanese Central Authority to help her recover her child under the Hague Convention. The Japanese foreign ministry contacted the Swiss government and worked with them to return the child. In late September, a Swiss court ordered that the American husband must return the child to Japan.
This second case was a more complete test of Japan’s implementation of the Hague Convention and shows that the Japanese foreign ministry is successfully able to process a return proceeding. As the Central Authority gains more experience in working with foreign governments and processing Hague Convention cases, we can expect the process to continue to get smoother and more timely.