Lawyers press for child’s best interest under int’l custody
TOKYO, Feb. 22 (AP) – (Kyodo)―Japanese lawyers said Tuesday
they have urged the government
to try to secure children’s best interests
if it decides to sign an international convention designed
to help resolve cases in which foreign parents are prevented
from seeing children “abducted” to Japan after their marriages
with Japanese nationals fail.
The Japan Federation of Bar Associations said in a paper submitted
to the foreign and justice ministries and the Cabinet Secretariat
that Tokyo should guarantee in its domestic law
that children should not be returned to their habitual country
of residence if they are found to have been abused
or subject to violence.
Satoshi Mukai, a JFBA vice president,
told a press conference that even
though member lawyers are divided over
whether Japan should join the 1980 Hague Convention
on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction,
they compiled the paper to influence ongoing discussions
at the government task force on the convention.
The treaty, which currently has 84 parties, stipulates rules
and procedures for the prompt return of children
to their habitual country of residence when wrongfully removed
or retained in the case of an international divorce.
The government launched the task force comprising senior vice ministers
in January to examine whether Tokyo should accede to the treaty.
Japan is the only country among the Group of Seven major economies
that has not signed the pact and it has been
under international pressure to join the treaty.
The report said Japan should stipulate in domestic laws
guaranteeing the implementation of the Hague Convention
that children’s opinions will be appropriately heard
and respected when authorities make a judgment on their return
to their habitual country of residence.
The lawyers also said the legislation should make it clear
that the Hague Convention is not retroactive,
or only applies to wrongful child removals or retentions
that occur after its entry into force in Japan and
that it exempts parental child abduction cases that occur domestically.
They called on the government to raise public awareness
of the Hague Convention and set a three-year preparation period
before the treaty takes effect in Japan.
Whether to join the Hague Convention has triggered
a heated debate in Japan,
where it is customary for mothers to take sole care of children
after divorces.
It is not unusual for children to stop seeing their fathers
after their parents break up.
Some critics in Japan argue that even though
the pact says children will not be returned
to their habitual country of residence
if there is “a grave risk of physical or psychological harm,”
past judgments have been made based on “limited interpretations”
of the clause.
The JFBA urged the nation’s diplomatic missions abroad
to provide necessary assistance to Japanese nationals
who are involved in child custody disputes.
Naoki Idei, a member of the JFBA’s working group on the Hague Convention,
said many member lawyers are concerned
the treaty could endanger Japanese parents
and their children who have fled abusive relationships.
As a legal remedy, the lawyers’ group called
on the Japanese government to ratify optional protocols
of international human rights treaties that enable individuals
to file complaints for violations of their rights.
Idei said such a mechanism would help redress the situation
of parents and children when a return to a child’s habitual country
of residence is ordered
under the Hague Convention despite claims of abuse.