The 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, now in force in 103 countries, was adopted to prevent a parent from unlawfully removing or retaining a child across an international border. Joining the Convention and accepting its fundamental premises has been difficult for some Asian countries, including Japan. It has forced a shift in mindset about the respective custodial rights of parents in countries with different cultural and societal norms from many Western countries. Two leading experts on the Convention, Yuko Nishitani, professor of law at Kyoto University in Japan, and Linda Silberman, NYU professor of law, will discuss these and other challenges to the operation of the Convention in Japan and the United States as well as other recent global trends.
