What is the Hague Convention?
On October 25, 1980, an international convention was held at the Hague. Here, numerous resolutions were adopted that concerned the wrongful removal of children from their home country. The resolutions of the Hague Convention was ratified by the United States in 1988. A parent has one year, as per United States law, to apply under the Hague for the wrongful removal of a child. Under the Hague Convention, a parent may also oppose the return of a child.
The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption (HCICA) was established in the Netherlands in 1993 as part of an ongoing series of global meetings to standardize laws among participating countries. The United States helped draft the HCICA and will sign the document on April 1, 2008, which means it will do adoptions only with Hague-compliant countries. So if Guatemala has not reformed its system by that date, the U.S. will no longer approve adoptions from Guatemala. The HCICA aims to protect children, biological and adoptive parents by having each country establish a national authority to oversee adoptions. The central authority accredits agencies and lawyers who process adoptions, and keeps track of children and fees associated with adoption. It makes paramount the rights of children and biological mothers, and encourages adoption by biological family members and families from the country where the child is born. The United States needed 15 years to sign HCICA because that’s how long it
A. The Hague Convention is a term used to cover a number of international treaties on different areas of the law, ranging from commercial issues, legal procedures and money judgments to international child abduction and adoption. There are many Conventions, each covering a different topic and having its own title. This Q&A publication is concerned with the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, first created October 25, 1980 and since ratified by the U.S. and many, but not all, countries. Q.
The 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of Intercountry Adoption is an international system of collaboration that aims to prevent the abduction of, sale of, or traffic in children. The Convention requires that intercountry adoption happens only where it would be in the child’s best interests, that all adopters are assessed and approved as suitable to adopt and that no profit is made from the adoption process. The UK ratified the Convention on 1 June 2003.
The Hague is an international treaty designed to govern the international adoption process and protect children being adopted across national boundaries. Representatives from more than 65 countries met in The Hague, Netherlands to develop safeguards, standards, and practices that would improve the safety of internationally adopted children. The treaty concluded in May 1993 and the since that time, the U.S. government has been passing legislation and developing regulations to implement this treaty. The Intercountry Adoption Act was passed and implementing regulations established. To date, 70 countries have joined the Hague convention and the new Hague regulations will apply only between countries that have both ratified and implemented the Hague Convention. Unlike many other countries, the U.S. does not have a tradition of federal, centralized, government-supervised social welfare programs. Instead, international adoptions are completed through private adoption agencies, attorneys, and
