India not ready to sign the Hague treaty

India not ready to sign the Hague treaty

Hague treaty, inter-country abduction of children by parents

News:

• India is not yet ready to sign the Hague treaty on the civil aspects of international child abduction.

Important facts:

• There has been immense pressure from the U.S. on the government to sign the treaty.
• A committee constituted by the Centre to examine legal issues involved in international parental abduction submitted its report in April, opposing a central provision of the Hague Convention.
• India will follow Japan’s example and put safeguards in place before acceding to the Hague treaty

Arguments against not singing treaty:

• According to the Indian government the criterion of habitual residence of the child, which is used to determine whether the child was wrongfully removed by a parent as well as to seek the return of the child to the country of habitual residence, was not in the best interest of the child.
• India has long held the view that the decision could lead to harassment of women escaping marital discord or domestic violence

Suggestions:

• Setting a Child Removal Disputes Resolution Authority to act as a nodal body to decide on the custody of the child as well as a model law to deal with such disputes.
• The government is contemplating assigning the National Commission for Protection of Children the responsibility to adjudicate on such cases along with a judicial expert.

Recent updates:

• The government in 2016 had decided that it will not sign the Hague treaty, later it appointed a panel under Rajesh bindal to prepare a report indicating that there was a some rethinking within the government on the matter.