23 March 2016 – Philippine Ambassador to the Netherlands Jaime Victor B. Ledda deposited the Philippines’ instrument of accession to the Hague Convention of October 25, 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction at a ceremony held during the meeting of the Council of General Affairs and Policy of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) on March 16 in The Hague, The Netherlands.
The International Child Abduction Convention aims to secure children who are wrongfully removed or retained and to ensure their prompt return to the State of their habitual residence as well as to ensure that rights of custody and of access under the law of one Contracting State are effectively respected in the other Contracting States.
The Convention will enter into force for the Philippines on June 01, 2016. However, other Contracting States must first accept the Philippines’ accession for the Convention to take effect between them and the Philippines.
The International Child Abduction Convention is the most ratified among the many HCCH conventions. The Philippines is now its 94th Contracting State. This is the second HCCH convention to which the Philippines is a party, following its ratification in 1996 of the 1993 Intercountry Adoption Convention. The Philippines has been a member of HCCH since July 2010. END