Child Abduction in Japan - editorial updates

[Mandylion]

More from the hard working folks at CRC (Children's Rights Council) Japan. Editorials in English and Japanese by Tommy G. Thomson, US Secretary of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Some excerpts -

The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, adopted by 74 countries, is an important tool for those seeking the return of children abducted across international borders, or to exercise their rights of access to see them.

Japan is the only G-7 industrialized country that is not a party to The Hague abduction convention.

It does not have a formal two-parent signature requirement for obtaining passports for minors. It has no bilateral child support enforcement agreement with another country, and has no plans to participate in the new multilateral child support convention.

Japanese law enforcement and social service agencies unfortunately seem unable to enforce custody and support orders-even those laid down by their own courts, let alone from another country's courts.

Obviously, each country has its own legal system, which reflects that country's deeply held values. International legal cooperation in family matters cannot and does not require that all countries' legal systems be exactly the same. But just as countries have to be willing to adjust their own laws in order to compete in a global economy and participate in the fight against international terrorism, they also have to ensure that their family laws provide an effective remedy in international abduction and child support cases.

Full article on-line as of 3/29/04 at the Asahi Shimbun and is also at the US Embassy webpage.

In Japanese transation will be available if the US Embassy gets its act together (was on-line earlier, now is missing). I will check for updates in the future and edit this post as needed.