When making decisions, adults should think about how their decisions will affect children. Recent years have witnessed, in private international law cases and legislations, the protection of children is increasingly mingled with gender, indigenous issues, refugees, violence, war, surrogacy technology, etc. This is evidenced by the US Supreme Court 2022 judgment Golan v. Saada, the Australian High Court case Secretary, Department of Communities & Justice v Bamfield, the 2023 German Constitutional Court decision, the Chinese Civil Code, the Australia Family Law (Child Abduction Convention) Amendment (Family Violence) Regulations 2022, and developments at the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH Children Conventions) and the United Nations (Convention on the Rights of the Child and its additional Protocols).
On this International Children?s Day, let us join this Conflictoflaws.net Lecture jointly offered by American Society of International Law Private International Law Interest Group and the University of Sydney Centre for Asia and Pacific Law to hear voices of children in private international law.
Speakers (listed in the surname alphabetic order):
Ms. Anna Mary Coburn: After 22-years of public service as a U.S. Department of State Attorney-Advisor for Children?s Issues as well as a USAID Regional Legal Advisor/Senior Advisor for Children/Youth in Conflict, she has transitioned to practicing international family law with a focus on child rights cases and issues.
Mr. Philippe Lortie: the co-head of the International Family and Child Protection Law Division at the Hague Conference on Private International Law Permanent Bureau and has more than 30 years? experience in the field of child protection.
Dr. Miranda Kaye: an academic at the Faculty of Law in the University of Technology Sydney in Australia and a member of Hague Mothers, a project aiming to end the injustices created by the Hague Child Abduction Convention. She also has experience in the public service (Law Commission of England and Wales) and as a practicing solicitor (family law in the UK).
Professor Lukas Rademacher: Professor of Private Law, Private International Law, and Comparative Law in Kiel (Germany). Read law in Dusseldorf and Oxford. PhD in Munster. Habilitation in Cologne.
Ms. Haitao Ye: a lawyer at the Shanghai Office of the Beijing Dacheng Law LLP specializing in marriage and family dispute resolution, family wealth inheritance and management. She is a former experienced judge in civil and commercial trials at the Shanghai Pudong New District People?s Court in China.
Moderator: Dr. Jie (Jeanne) Huang, associate professor, the University of Sydney Law School, Australia