CHILD abduction is a growing problem in Europe. Increased mobility has brought more transnational marriages, more transnational marriage breakdown and more transnational child custody disputes.
Faced with complex and lengthy court proceedings or with the prospect of losing a custody battle in another country some parents simply abduct the children of broken marriages.
In 1995, 70 children were abducted from Ireland. Most of these were children of separated parents who are taken out of the country by one parent without the consent of the other. A further 62 were abducted into Ireland in 1995.
In recognition of the growing problem throughout Europe, the European Parliament some months ago appointed the Dublin MEP Ms Mary Banotti of Fine Gael as European mediator on abducted children. "The abduction of children is unfortunately a growing problem and one that has, perhaps, been made easier by the removal of travel restrictions between the 15 member states of the European Union," Ms Banotti said.
Two conventions cover such cases of child abduction the Hague Convention of 1980 on the civil aspects of child abductions, and the Luxembourg Convention of 1980 on international recognition and enforcement of decisions concerning child custody.
According to Ms Banotti these instruments are no longer enough. "The main problems with these conventions were the slowness of procedures, the lack of free legal aid in some countries, and the recourse to the use of the exemption clauses."
The implementation of the procedures should be fast and almost automatic, she said. Lawyers and judges are often unfamiliar with the procedures, as they deal with child abduction cases very rarely.
Ms Banotti is now calling for the establishment of a centralised European body to help to trace abducted children. At the moment some abducted children are seldom found, she said. "Figures from Interpol show that 60 children reported missing in the European Union have still not been traced. The development and enlargement of the Union requires the member states to cooperate on family law issues."
The Interpol figures greatly understate the scale of the problem, she said. They only cover criminal abductions, while abductions by parents are excluded from the statistics.
Since her appointment as mediator on the issue, Ms Banotti has dealt with 12 individual cases of child abduction and has responded to many requests for information and advice. "Abducted children are a special problem," she says. "Their rights are often ignored as are the rights of one or both parents."
Yesterday in the European Parliament, the Minister of State, Mr Gay Mitchell, representing the Council of Ministers, said he noted Ms Banotti's suggestion for a European body to deal with the issue, and he would bring this to the attention of the President of the Council of Justice Ministers as it happens, Ms Banotti's sister, Mrs Nora Owen.
The Council of Ministers was preparing a new European convention on the issue, he said, but he could not say when it would be completed. The draft convention would ensure that custody decisions made in one member state were respected in all others.