This refers to a situation where a child is illegally taken to another country or is illegally detained there by a parent. By ‘illegal’ we mean that it has been carried out in violation of the custody laws of the country in which the child was ordinarily resident or without permission from the other parent.

The most important convention concerning international child abduction is The Hague Convention on Child Abduction, 1980. This convention applies to children under the age of 16.

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The Hague Convention on Child Abduction 1980