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Jeremy D. Morley
International Family Law
230 Park Avenue, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10169
jmorley@international-divorce.com
Tel: (212) 372-3425

Fax: (815) 301-6742


 

Some of our articles

on international child abduction:

 

How to Win a Hague Convention
Child Abduction Case

 

 

Hague Convention Overview

 

 

Judicial Prevention of International Child Abduction

 

 

Habitual Residence

 

 

Acquiescence or Consent

 

 

The Future of the Grave Risk of Harm Defense
in Hague International Child Abduction Cases

 

 

When the Hague Convention Won't Help

 

 

"Rights of Custody" Under the Hague Convention

 

 

Top Ten Tips for Expats

 

International Child Visitation

 

 

Tolling the One-Year Limitation Period in the Hague Convention

 

 


Text of the Hague Convention on Abduction

ICARA - International Child Abduction Remedies Act

Criminal Prosecution and International Child Abduction

 

Romania and the Hague Abduction Convention 

The Hague Abduction Convention in Romania is administered by the Romanian Ministry of Justice, which acts as the Central Authority under the Convention.  

Romania became a party to the Convention in 1992 but its domestic law implementing the Convention was not enacted until 2004. That law (Law no. 369/2004 and the Regulations regarding the means by which the Ministry of Justice exercises its prerogatives as central authority, as approved by Order of the Justice Minister) now govern the application of the treaty in domestic Romanian law.

That law provides that the legal proceedings concerning requests for returning children take place in two stages: the first instance trial and the appeal. All legal disputes generated by the application of the Convention are heard in only one court: the Tribunal of Bucharest, with appeals being adjudicated by the Bucharest Court of Appeal’s Section for minors and family matters.

Law no.369/2004 stipulates that requests for returning a child who is in Romania should be urgently answered in accordance with Art. 3 of the Convention; that the grounds for ordering the return of the child shall be presented within 10 days of the ruling; and that the order shall be appealed against at the Bucharest Court of Appeal, within 10 days of communication.

Law no. 369/2004 also provides that the left-behind shall be represented before the Romanian courts by a lawyer or by the Romanian Central Authority. At the request of the complainant, the Romanian Central Authority may facilitate the legal assistance by a Romanian lawyer. The answer to the request shall be offered against the interests of the person who has allegedly taken or kept the minor, and the tutorial authority from the domicile of the accused shall be cited. According to Law no. 369/2004, a child aged ten or older must be heard by the court. A child under that age may be heard if the court deems it necessary. In all circumstances, when a child is heard a psychologist must be present who should submit a psychological report.

Romanian courts, while trying the case, may request the competent authorities in the child’s country of habitual residence to carry out a social investigation at the domicile of the parent who demands that the child be returned. This serves as a guarantee for the safety of the child’s return.

Law no. 369/2004 provides for civil fines against the parent who does not of his/her own accord fulfill the obligation to return the child, as ordered by the judge.

Romania adopted legislation in 2006 providing for mediation. A reconciliation letter is sent to the parent who has traveled with the child, asking him/her to give back the child of his/her own accord, explaining briefly the consequences of a refusal. Also, the parent is invited for discussions at the office of the Central Authority.

 

 

 

 

Romania - Child Abduction

 U.S. Department of State
2008 REPORT ON COMPLIANCE WITH THE HAGUE CONVENTION ON THE CIVIL ASPECTS OF INTERNATIONAL CHILD ABDUCTION

Romania was not listed as Not Compliant or as a Country Demonstrating Patterns of Noncompliance.

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U.S. Department of State
2007 REPORT ON COMPLIANCE WITH THE HAGUE CONVENTION ON THE CIVIL ASPECTS OF INTERNATIONAL CHILD ABDUCTION

Romania was not listed as Not Compliant or as a Country Demonstrating Patterns of Noncompliance.

___________________

U.S. Department of State
2006 REPORT ON COMPLIANCE WITH THE HAGUE CONVENTION ON THE CIVIL ASPECTS OF INTERNATIONAL CHILD ABDUCTION

In the 2005 Convention Compliance Report, Romania was judged to be a “country of concern;” an upgrade from “not fully compliant,” as Romanian performance in the 2004 Report was rated.  During the most recent rating period, we saw encouraging signs that Romania might continue to improve its compliance.  Although the USCA has concerns with the Romanian Central Authority's (RCA) responsiveness to direct inquiries and ability to provide timely status updates and court determinations, U.S. Embassy Bucharest has assisted the USCA in evaluating the RCA as having good cooperation and performance.  At the beginning of the rating period, Romania passed new legislation that will serve as a best practices guide for the judiciary.  There is a possibility, however, that the new legislation may support the previously cited flaw in Romanian compliance of courts requiring psychological and home evaluations, because the legislation requires that a psychologist be present and prepared to submit a report at the court’s request.  It is still too early to discern whether the new legislation will correct a bias in the courts in favor of the Romanian parent, especially mothers with young children.  The lack of new cases during the reporting period makes it impossible to tell whether there has been an improvement in the timely movement of cases through the Romanian court system.  Due to the lack of new cases upon which to base a change in rating, the USCA continues to designate Romania as a “country of concern.”

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U.S. Department of State
2005 REPORT ON COMPLIANCE WITH THE HAGUE CONVENTION ON THE CIVIL ASPECTS OF INTERNATIONAL CHILD ABDUCTION

Countries Not Fully Compliant: ROMANIA
 

The Department of State has noted some improvements in the performance of the Romanian Central Authority over the past year, especially with respect to the level of responsiveness to requests for status updates and case information.  Hague cases continue to face lengthy court delays, although there have been some improvements in recent months.  Many of the problems cited in the last report continued in 2004, especially the use of psychological evaluations, an apparent lack of familiarity with the Hague Convention that results in judges and attorneys treating cases as custody determinations, and judicial determinations of resettlement that result because of cases languishing in the Romanian court system.  Delays in case processing on the part of a foreign government should not penalize children or left-behind parents.  The burden of proof lies on the taking parent to prove that the child is in fact re-habituated, and the child should still be ordered returned if the taking parent cannot demonstrate that the child is now integrated into that culture in such a way that his/her habitual residence has changed. 

Romania passed Hague Convention implementing legislation in September 2004.  This legislation should improve Hague case processing, particularly because it centralizes the hearing of Hague cases in family courts, allowing the development of judicial expertise.  Under the provisions of this new law, Hague abduction cases are to be tried in the Child and Family Department of the Bucharest Court by family law judges who are trained in the provisions of the Convention.  The law became effective on December 27, 2004.  Pending cases have been or are in the process of being transferred to the new court.  The Ministry of Justice is in the process of drafting internal regulations for the processing of Hague Convention cases according to the new law.  The Department does have some concerns about the consistency of specific articles of the implementing law with the Hague Convention.  For example, the mandated involvement of psychologists in all cases raises concerns, as psychological reports can delay decisions and inevitably go to the merits of custody.  Since the implementing legislation was passed at the end of this reporting period, we will be alert to the effects the new legislation might have on pending and future U.S. Hague cases.

Contact Us

Jeremy D. Morley

International Family Law
230 Park Avenue, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10169
jmorley@international-divorce.com
Tel: (212) 372-3425
Fax: (815) 301-6742