Raleys Solicitors

At Raleys we’re (obviously) interested in law, and we’re always interested in keeping our fingers on the pulse, so to speak. So we’ve been following the situation regarding the Hague convention and Japan with interest.

One factor governed by the Hague Conventions states that any child from a failed marriage with parents of two difference nationalities can be returned to their country of residence should they be taken to one parent’s country without the permission of the other parent. This agreement does not cover all countries however, since only signatory countries must comply.

As far as Japan is concerned, the Hague Convention has been rather a bone of contention. The prevailing trend and the current legal precedent in Japan is that children of divorced couples live with just one parent, losing contact with the other. It is almost always the mother who is awarded sole custody. Therefore the Hague Convention’s rules on international child custody contradict Japanese law and the country’s ‘norms.’

Japan is currently the eye in the centre of a storm of publicity over the Hague Convention and the country’s leaders have been under pressure from many G8 countries to sign. The consequences of signing the convention could be huge for Japan because the population has a high number of international marriages, with almost 20,000 marriages made up of one Japanese and one international partner ending in divorce in 2008.

At Raley’s we have been watching with interest as the prevailing public opinion in Japan has appeared to shift. It was first argued that the convention would endanger children of domestic violence victims by putting them back in contact with violent parents. But recently, the tide of public opinion has changed direction and seems to stand more in support of signing the convention.

This is perhaps due to the high profile case of one mother who is unable to see her child as a result of Japan not having signed the convention. The Japanese lady is in her country following a divorce from her Czech partner. The father has the child in his own country and has told courts he has no intention of taking the child to Japan. Whilst the Czech Republic is a signatory of the Hague Convention, Japan still isn’t so the mother as yet has no right to insist her child be brought back to Japan.

It’s turning into quite an interesting debate and we’ll be keeping our eyes on the news to let you know what happens and our thoughts and opinions. We’d love to hear yours too.