Seventh Meeting of the Special Commission on the practical operation of the 1980 and 1996 Conventions completes its work

From 10 to 17 October 2017, 292 participants took part in the Seventh Meeting of the Special Commission on the Practical Operation of the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention and the 1996 Hague Child Protection Convention, representing 62 Member States and one REIO, six non-Member Contracting States, four invited non-Member non-Contracting States and observers from 14 IGO / NGOs.

These included the following Members of the Hague Conference on Private International Law: Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, People’s Republic of China, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Georgia, Hungary, India, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Uruguay, Venezuela and Viet Nam; the following non-Member Contracting States: Bahamas, Bolivia, Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Thailand; the following invited non-Member non-Contracting States: Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Qatar; the following intergovernmental organisation: United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC); the following non-governmental organisations (NGOs): Asociación Americana de Derecho Internacional Privado (ASADIP), International Society of Family Law (ISFL), International Association of Youth and Family Judges and Magistrates (IAYFJM), Association Internationale Francophone des Intervenants auprès des Familles Séparées (AIFI), Association of International Family Judges (AIFJ), International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL), International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ), International Association of Child Law Researchers (IACLaR), International Centre For Missing And Exploited Children (ICMEC), Lawyers In Europe On Parental Child Abduction (LEPCA), Missing Children Europe, International Social Service (ISS), United States - Mexico Bar Association (USMBA).

The Special Commission unanimously adopted 82 Conclusions and Recommendations (C&R), on such topics as: a draft Guide to Good Practice on Article 13(1)(b) of the 1980 Convention, addressing delays under the 1980 Convention, co-operation among Central Authorities under the 1980 and 1996 Conventions, the Malta Process, enforcement of return decisions under the 1980 Convention, international family relocation, unaccompanied and separated children, consent to travel forms, judicial matters under the 1996 Convention, judicial networking and direct judicial communications in the field of international child protection, potential new international work on the recognition and enforcement of agreements in family matters and the recognition and enforcement of protection orders, as well as new and / or expanded IT support tools for the 1980 and 1996 Conventions, including INCADAT, INCASTAT and electronic Country Profiles.