U.S. Department of State
2007 REPORT ON COMPLIANCE

For the rating period to be covered by this report, Greece continues to demonstrate a pattern of noncompliance with the Convention. The Department sees patterns of noncompliance in both Greek judicial performance and law enforcement performance. Despite efforts by the Greek Central Authority to educate judges, Greek courts typically treated Convention cases as custody matters, basing cases on the best interests of the child or other criteria outside the boundaries of the Convention. Article 13(b) is used excessively to refuse returns.
Moreover, the courts exhibited a bias in favor of Greek parents. There were also excessive delays between the court hearings and notification of the court’s decision. All of these delays further violated Article 11 of the Convention requiring that Convention cases be handled expeditiously.

The Department was encouraged that in June 2006, a five-judge Greek Court of Appeals overturned a trial court ruling that had ignored clear provisions of the Convention. The decision for return received significant publicity in Greece; however, as of the end of the reporting period, the decision for return still had not been enforced. As a whole, it appears that enforcement of court orders remains a challenge for the Greek police (although the Department notes that the return order in the case mentioned above was enforced in February 2007, after the end
of the reporting period).