The Hague Convention, to which the United States is a signatory, was adopted to address the problem of child abduction by family members, which not infrequently occurs in connection with transnational custody disputes. The Convention's purpose is to protect children internationally from the harmful effects of their wrongful removal or retention and to establish procedures to ensure their prompt return to the State of their habitual residence .
In the United States, a person invokes the protections of the Convention by
filing a petition in state or federal court under ICARA. 42 U.S.C. § 11603(a), (b)
(2006). The court then "shall decide the case in accordance with the Convention." Id. § 11603(d). The petitioner bears the burden of proving "that the child has been wrongfully removed or retained within the meaning of the Convention." Id. § 11603(e)(1)(A).
The Convention empowers courts in the United States to determine only rights under the Convention and not the merits of any underlying child custody claims. The U.S. district court is to ascertain only whether the removal or retention of a child was "wrongful" under the law of the child's "habitual residence," and if so, to order the return of the child to the place of . . . "habitual residence" for the court there to decide the merits of the custody dispute. CLICK HERE for Child Custody and Support Help.
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