The Japan Times reports that Japan is now certain to finally  join the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction by the end of the financial year in March 2014, once all the domestic issues are concluded.

The treaty established in 1980 assist with the quick return of children under 16, who have either been abducted or kept by one parent when an international marriage falls apart, to their country of habitual residence if  the other parent makes a request.

Thailand is already a signatory to the Hague Treaty. Enforcement is made through the Thailand Attorney General Office. The Hague Convention has been successfully used in the past through Thailand Child Abduction Law to bring children back to Thailand.  However, the reverse position is not as clear as yet: Thailand’s legal system has a two-tiered process for new laws, and the statutes of the Hague Treaty still need to go through the second process before they are fully integrated with Thailand’s internal legal system.

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