[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 69 Received in Senate (RDS)]

  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 69


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 22, 2001

                                Received

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sense of the Congress on the Hague Convention on the 
     Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and urging all 
  Contracting States to the Convention to recommend the production of 
                            practice guides.

Whereas 20 years ago, the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International 
        Child Abduction was a bold step forward to provide a uniform process for 
        resolving international child abduction cases;
Whereas over the past 2 decades, the Convention has had increasingly important 
        and positive effects and has grown 


in terms of the number of Contracting States and the level of interest of 
other nations;

Whereas there has been an increase of multinational marriages and a 
        corresponding increase of international abductions of children by 
        parents;
Whereas as travel becomes faster and easier, and as multinational marriages 
        become more common, the Convention is more significant than ever;
Whereas on 2 occasions, the International Centre for Missing and Exploited 
        Children and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children have 
        convened professionals and experts in international child abduction to 
        examine their experiences with the Convention;
Whereas on both occasions, the participants affirmed their overwhelming 
        commitment to the Convention, but were also unified in the conclusion 
        that there are serious shortcomings in its implementation;
Whereas the shortcomings include--

    (1) a lack of awareness by policy makers and the general public of the 
Convention and of the problem of international child abduction, making the 
successful resolution of cases more difficult;

    (2) the fact that, in too many instances, the process for resolving an 
international child abduction is too slow;

    (3) a lack of uniformity in the interpretation of the Convention from 
nation to nation;

    (4) the fact that key exceptions provided in the Convention to ensure 
reason and common sense have in some cases ceased to be viewed as 
exceptions, have instead become the rule, and are frequently used as 
justifications for not returning abducted children;

    (5) the increasing difficulty of enforcing access rights for parents 
under Article 21 of the Convention;

    (6) the need of parents for significant personal financial resources to 
obtain legal representation and proceed under the Convention and, in many 
places, the lack of assistance for parents who do not have such resources;

    (7) a serious lack of training, knowledge, and experience for judges in 
international child abduction cases, because there are too many courts 
hearing these cases and in most instances few such cases for each court; 
and

    (8) in many instances, the lack of enforcement of court orders for the 
return of children;

Whereas the Permanent Bureau of The Hague Conference on Private International 
        Law has made significant contributions to the implementation of the 
        Convention but recognizes that more needs to be done; and
Whereas the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children has promised 
        to support an effort to produce practice guides to provide a framework 
        for applying the Convention: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That--
            (1) it is the sense of the Congress that--
                    (A) the original intent of the Hague Convention on 
                the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction--to 
                provide a uniform process for resolving international 
                child abduction cases--is more important than ever;
                    (B) practice guides should be developed for the 
                Convention that build on recognized best practices 
                under the Convention and provide a framework for 
                applying the Convention;
                    (C) the Convention itself need not be modified;
                    (D) the practices identified and included in the 
                practice guides should not be legally binding on 
                Contracting States to the Convention and should be 
                based on research and the advice of experts to help 
                ensure the most effective process possible;
                    (E) the practice guides should be developed in 3 
                stages: comparative research and consultations, 
                meetings of expert committees to develop drafts, and 
                consideration of the drafts by a future Special 
                Commission; and
                    (F) the Permanent Bureau of The Hague Conference on 
                Private International Law should organize the process 
                of developing the practice guides; and
            (2) the Congress urges all Contracting States to the 
        Convention to adopt a resolution recommending that--
                    (A) the Permanent Bureau of The Hague Conference on 
                Private International Law produce and promote practice 
                guides to assist in the implementation and operation of 
                the Convention; and
                    (B) such a proposal to produce practice guides be 
                adopted by the Fourth Special Commission at The Hague 
                in March 2001.

            Passed the House of Representatives March 22, 2001.

            Attest:

                                                 JEFF TRANDAHL,

                                                                 Clerk.