Details

From 2 to 4 April 2025, the conference “15 Years of the HCCH Washington Declaration: Progress and Perspectives on International Family Relocation” was held at the Embassy of Canada in Washington, D.C., United States of America. The conference was jointly organised by the Embassy of Canada, the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL), and the HCCH.

This conference took place following Conclusions & Recommendations (C&R) Nos 53 - 55 of the Eighth Meeting of the Special Commission (SC) on the practical operation of the 1980 Child Abduction and the 1996 Child Protection Conventions, encouraging the promotion of the 2010 Washington Declaration.  

The conference was conducted in a hybrid format and attended by over 200 participants representing 44 HCCH Members and five non-Member Contracting Parties to the 1980 Child Abduction, the 1996 Child Protection, and/or the 2007 Child Support Conventions. The conference was also attended by Fellows of the IAFL, as well as representatives from other Observer organisations to the HCCH.

The conference consisted of eight sessions, bringing together experts from over 20 States. Following the opening remarks, the first session set the scene by outlining the harmful effects of international child abduction and introducing international family relocation as a potential tool to help prevent it. The second session provided a state of play of international family relocation. The next four sessions facilitated an exchange of experiences among officials from States with specific relocation procedures, States following specific case law or guidelines in relocation cases, and States utilising best interests assessments as guidelines in relocation cases. These were followed by a session highlighting recent research and policy work on international family relocation. Finally, the last session discussed the use of alternate dispute resolution and other services in cases of international family relocation.

Among other things, the discussions underscored the enduring practical relevance of the 2010 Washington Declaration in promoting common principles for cross-border family relocation proceedings.

Following this conference, a focused issue of the Judges’ Newsletter will be published and a questionnaire on international family relocation will be circulated by the HCCH following C&R Nos 53 and 54 of the Eighth Meeting of the SC.

For more information on the Conference, please visit its dedicated page on the HCCH website. More information on the 1980 Child Abduction, 1996 Child Protection, and 2007 Child Support Conventions is available on the Child Abduction, Child Protection, and Child Support Sections of the HCCH website.

The Permanent Bureau of the HCCH is grateful to the Embassy of Canada and to the IAFL for their hospitality and generous support.