The Hague Convention.

A highly emotional case is reaching finality in an Australian court.    An Australian woman married to an Italian man lived in Italy during the years that they had four daughters together.   The marriage soured, but the father agreed to his wife taking the girls to Australia for a family holiday.   A hidden agenda was involved and the mother refused to return the girls to Italy when the holiday ended.  The sisters were vocal in refusing to be returned to their father.

This incident fell under the protective terms of the Hague Convention.   That is an accord signed by most civilized countries that codifies parental responsibilities and spells out the laws designed for the protection of children.   In broad terms, it outlaws the removal of children from the reach of the courts of their usual place of residence.   It considers the removal of a child by one parent from the care of the other a breach of the law tantamount to kidnapping.

This case had many twists and turns.   The removal clearly invoked the Hague convention and the courts ordered the children to be returned to their father in Italy.   They then " disappeared ", only to later reappear in the care of a relative in another part of the state.   These four sisters - aged between nine and fifteen - were adamant that their wishes were to remain in Australia with their mother.

The court was equally adamant that the law of the Hague Convention applied, and they will shortly be returning to Italy.  Some people complain that the wishes of the girls are being ignored and at age fifteen the decision should be up to the child concerned, but to do that would be to condone.the breach of a law that applies in most civilized countries.

Some people will remember a celebrated abduction case from 1992.    An Australian mother married to a Malaysian prince was granted custody rights for their two children and legally moved them to Australia.   It seemed an amicable arrangement and the mother consented to the father taking them on an Australian holiday.
The prince put in place an elaborate abduction scheme which resulted in the father and the children reappearing in Malaysia.    Several Australian accomplices were charged and one served gaol time as a result.

Malaysia is not a signatory to the Hague Convention and religious laws in that country favour men in their decisions.    Repatriation was refused, and the prince denied access by mail or phone until the children reached the age of eighteen.

Fortunately, there was an ultimate happy ending, and a similar conclusion may apply in this case proceeding through an Australian court.    When these Malaysian children reached their legal age of consent, they defied their father's wishes and happily reconnected with their mother in Australia.

It ias said that time often heals old wounds !