The Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice on the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction

Citation

Beaumont PR (2009) The Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice on the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction. In: Académie de Droit International de la Haye (ed.) Recueil des cours, Collected Courses, Tome/Volume 335 (2008). Collected Courses of The Hague Academy of International Law - Recueil des cours, 335. Leiden: Brill / Nijhoff, pp. 9-108.

Abstract
The lectures are a thorough analysis of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights on the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction of 1980. They reveal significant areas where the Court has helped to give a srong and uniform interpretation to the Convention, for example robust enforcement, strong obligations on Central Authorities and strict construction of the exceptions to the duty to return a child to the country of his or her habitual residence. The last point is skilfully reconciled with the requirement to do what is in the best interests of the child in each case. The recent decision of the European Court of Justice on child abduction in the Rinau case is scrutinized.