Criminal Law Aspects of International Child Abduction
Keywords:
international child abduction, case law, European Court of Human Rights, Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, return of childrenAbstract
As a complex and expanding global problem, international child abduction causes many legal consequences. Although the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child abduction, adopted in 1980, sets the grounds for cooperation of relevant state authorities in order to provide prompt return of the abducted child to the state of his or her habitual residence and protect his or her best interests, numerous other issues such as criminal liability of parents, protection of child's rights and protection of right to family life, arise therein. The authors of this paper highlight different etiological and legal aspects of international child abduction and discuss the link between this phenomenon and other similar offences, such as abduction, human trafficking, trafficking in minors for adoption and domestic violence, with special focus on Serbian legislation. The authors also point out the most disputable issues regarding international child abduction in the practice of the European Court of Human Rights and key dilemmas in the practical implementation of national and international frameworks for its prevention.
References
Boyle, P. J., Kulu, H., Cooke, T., Gayle, V., & Mulder, C. H. (2008). Moving and union dissolution. Demography, 45(1), 209–222.
Caarls, K., & Mazzucato, V. (2015). Does international migration lead to divorce? Ghanaian couples in Ghana and abroad. Population, 70(1), 127–151.
Criminal Code of the Republic of Serbia. (2005). Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, Nos. 85/2005, 88/2005, 107/2005, 72/2009, 111/2009, 121/2012, 104/2013, 108/2014, 94/2016.
Frank, R., & Wildsmith, E. (2005). The grass widows of Mexico: Migration and union dissolution in a binational context. Social Forces, 83(3), 919–947.
Hill, L. E. (2004). Connections between U.S. female migration and family formation and dissolution. Migraciones Internacionales, 2(3), 60–82.
Jovašević, D. (2015). Odgovornost i kažnjivost za zločin genocida. Zbornik radova Pravnog fakulteta u Nišu, 54(70), 391–408.
Kovaček-Stanić, G. (2012). Porodičnopravni aspekti međunarodne roditeljske otmice. Anali Pravnog fakulteta u Beogradu, 60(2), 74–94.
Martín, G. N. (2015). International parental child abduction and mediation. Anuario Mexicano de Derecho Internacional, 15, 353–412.
Milošević, M. (2008). Oduzimanje maloletnika kao vrsta otmice i samostalno krivično delo. Nauka, bezbednost, policija, 13(3), 7–22.
Ponjavić, Z., & Palačković, D. (2012). Prekogranično odvođenje dece i porodično nasilje. In G. Marković (Ed.), Prava djeteta i ravnopravnost polova – između normativnog i stvarnog (pp. 47–71). Pravni fakultet u Istočnom Sarajevu.
Ponjavić, Z., & Vlašković, V. (2014). Koncept „najboljeg interesa deteta” unutar Haške konvencije o građanskopravnim aspektima međunarodne otmice dece. In S. Bubić (Ed.), Zbornik radova Pravnog fakulteta Univerziteta „Džemal Bijedić” u Mostaru (pp. 32–49). Pravni fakultet Univerziteta „Džemal Bijedić”.
Ponjavić, Z., & Vlašković, V. (2014). Space for the child’s best interests inside the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Revija za evropsko pravo, 16(2–3), 45–67.
Stojanović, Z. (2016). Komentar Krivičnog zakonika. Službeni glasnik.
The Office of Children’s Issues. (2017). Legal analysis of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs.
Varadi, T., Bordaš, B., Knežević, G., & Pavić, V. (2016). Međunarodno privatno pravo. Pravni fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu – Centar za izdavaštvo i informisanje.
Yamaguchi, S., & Taryn, L. (2016). Domestic violence and the implementation of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction: Japan and U.S. policy. Journal of International Women’s Studies, 17(4), 16–30.
Zakon o ratifikaciji Konvencije o građanskopravnim aspektima međunarodne otmice dece. (1991). Službeni list SFRJ – Međunarodni ugovori, br. 7/1991.
Bianchi v. Switzerland, no. 7548/04 (European Court of Human Rights, 22 June 2006).
K.J. v. Poland, no. 30813/14 (European Court of Human Rights, 1 March 2016).
Phostira Efthymiou and Ribeiro Fernandes v. Portugal, no. 66775/11 (European Court of Human Rights, 1 June 2015).
Rouiller v. Switzerland, no. 3592/08 (European Court of Human Rights, 22 July 2014).
X v. Latvia, no. 27853/09 (European Court of Human Rights, Grand Chamber, 26 November 2013).
Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.
Committee on the Rights of the Child. (2017). Concluding observations on the combined second and third periodic reports of Serbia.
Convention on the Rights of the Child. (1989).
Council of Europe. (1950). European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
Draft law on civil law protection of children from illegal cross-border removal and retention. (n.d.).
Uchida, Y. (2013). Accession to the Hague Convention (Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction) and establishment of domestic acts of such convention. Waseda University Institute of Comparative Law.
United Nations General Assembly. (1989). Convention on the Rights of the Child. United Nations Treaty Series, 1577, 3.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright over their published works and grant the publisher a non-exclusive right to publish the article, to be identified as its first publisher in cases of reuse, and to distribute it in all forms and media. The articles will be distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution International (CC BY 4.0) license, unless otherwise stated.
