European Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Decisions concerning Custody of Children and on Restoration of Custody of Children

The European Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Decisions concerning Custody of Children and on Restoration of Custody of Children, signed in Luxembourg on May 20, 1980, entered into force in Italy with Law 15 January 1994 n. 64 of January 15, 1994, the same law that ratified the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. 

Under the Convention, any person who has obtained in a Contracting State a decision relating to the custody of a child and who wishes to have that decision recognised or enforced in another Contracting State may submit an application for this purpose to the central authority in any Contracting State.

 The central authority shall take or cause to be taken without delay all steps which it considers to be appropriate, in order:

- to discover the whereabouts of the child;

- to avoid any prejudice to the interests of the child or of the applicant;

- to secure the recognition or enforcement of the decision;

- to secure the delivery of the child to the applicant where enforcement is granted;

- to inform the requesting authority of the measures taken and their results.

Where the central authority has reason to believe that the child is in the territory of another Contracting State it shall send the documents directly and without delay to the central authority of that State.

Pursuant to the Convention, a decision relating to custody given in a Contracting State shall be recognised and, where it is enforceable in the State of origin, made enforceable in every other Contracting State.

Decisions on rights of access shall be recognized and applied under the same conditions as other decisions relating to custody.
In the case of an improper removal, the central authority of the State addressed, shall proceed immediately with the return of the child if at the time to submit the request in the State where the decision was given, or at the date of the improper removal (if this removal has happenede before) the child and his parents had as their sole nationality the nationality of that State and the child has his habitual residence in the territory of that State; also the request must be proposed to a central authority within a period of six months from the date of the improper removal.

If between the person who has custody of the child and another person there is an agreement (approved by a competent authority) to grant a right of access to the other person and if at the expiration of the agreed period, the child was not returned to the person having the custody, it is possbile to proceed to the restoration of the right of custody.

The same shall apply in the case of a decision of the competent authority granting such a right to a person who has not the custody of the child.

This Convention shall not exclude the possibility of relying on any other international instrument in force between the State of origin and the State addressed or on any other law of the State addressed not derived from an international agreement for the purpose of obtaining recognition or enforcement of a decision.

For more details, please see also:

International Lawyers for Child Abduction

Child Abduction in Italy: the requirement of habitual residence for the application of the Hague Convention of 1980

The International Child Abduction in EU countries

Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction

For more information, please contact Lawyers in Italy