Practice Guide assists representation of battered mothers under Hague Convention

The Hague Domestic Violence Project have released a Practice Guide to assist attorneys/lawyers and domestic violence advocates in representing battered mother respondents.

The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction ("the Convention") is an international treaty designed to protect children through a civil legal framework. The purpose of the Convention is to promptly return children to their country of "habitual residence" if they are wrongfully removed or retained across an international border. Domestic violence is not grounds for an exception to returning children, but is considered within the wider context of exceptions and is relevant to the Convention court's consideration of whether a petition should be granted.

The purpose of the Guide, Representing Battered Respondents under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, is to address cases involving allegations of domestic violence, specifically focusing on providing assistance to battered respondents. The Guide seeks to assist attorneys/lawyers and domestic violence advocates by:

• "Outlining the law and jurisprudence central to a Hague Convention case in the United States.
• Highlighting issues specific to cases alleging domestic violence perpetrated by the left-behind parent.
• Covering the intersection of domestic violence and the Hague Convention."

In an article discussing the Practice Guide, Sudha Shetty, Hague Domestic Violence Project Principal Investigator and Assistant Dean for Global Alliances at the University of California Berkeley, says the Guide is critical for a number of reasons. First, the purpose of the Convention means more resources worldwide are available to support the "left-behind parent" in facilitating the prompt return of the child and preventing harm. The Convention also prevents the fleeing parent obtaining a legal advantage. However, in cases of domestic violence, the removal of the child may be less harmful to them than their habitual residence and the fleeing parent be seeking safety for herself and her children, not a legal advantage. Despite this, resources to support these respondents may be limited.

Second, as the convention does not specifically address domestic violence, the fleeing parent is frequently viewed as an abductor by courts that may not understand domestic violence dynamics, how these dynamics are relevant to the children's safety, and how they relate to the Convention's exceptions to return the child.

The guide is available nationally within the United States, and will also be used in Japan. For more information on the Hague Domestic Violence Project, including an interview with Sudha Shetty and Jeffery Edleson, visit the Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California Berkeley website.

Sudha Shetty and Jeffery Edleson spoke on the Hague Convention at a conference co-hosted by the Families Commission (now Superu) and the New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse in 2013:

Seeking Safety Across Borders: Battered Women's Experiences with the Hague Convention in American Courts 

Further reading - book:

Battered women, their children, and international law:the unintended consequences of the Hague Child Abduction Convention (Lindhorst & Edleson, 2012)