A Hague Convention on International Child Abduction case starts with the left behind parent filing an application with their home country’s Central Authority. Upon receipt of an application, the Central Authority will contact and work with the Central Authority in the country that the child was abducted to.
When the Japan Central Authority receives one of these applications, the next step is to locate the abducting parent and child. As Japan has a fairly extensive family registration system, most of the time the abducting parent is located with little difficult. The Central Authority will then prepare a package to be mailed to the abducting parent that explains the parent’s options and the next steps in the Hague proceeding.
While the package sent to abducting parents in Japan is meant as a helpful guide to the upcoming Hague proceeding, unfortunately it is not always opened upon receipt. Some parents are afraid to open it or do not understand what it is and simply ignore it. Even worse, the Central Authority has identified cases where uninformed Japanese attorneys have advised parents not to open the package, mistakenly believing that opening the package exposes the parent to jurisdiction for the Hague Convention case. Of course, the Hague Convention case will proceed whether the abducting parent opens the package or not so it is in the parent’s best interest to fully review all the information and carefully consider his or her options.