4 Implementation Status of the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (The Hague Convention)

The Hague Convention is designed as an international mechanism for addressing disputes arising from the wrongful removal or retention of children across borders in the belief that the interests of children are of paramount importance. It requires cooperation between Contracting States to the Convention for returning children to their state of habitual residence and establishing opportunities for transboundary parent-child access.

This Convention entered into force in Japan on April 1, 2014, with 103 countries, including Japan, parties to the Convention as of the end of December 2023.

The Convention is implemented through mutual cooperation among the governmental agencies designated as the Central Authority in Contracting States to the Convention. In Japan, MOFA as the Central Authority avails itself of experts in various fields and provides assistance to both the parent whose child was removed and the parent who removed the child for the resolution of child removal cases, in communication and cooperation with foreign Central Authorities.

In the nine years and nine months since the entry into force of the Convention, MOFA received a total number of 556 applications by the end of December 2023: 371 applications seeking the return of the child and 185 applications seeking access to the child. Of the cases seeking the return of the child from Japan to another country, children were returned in 69 cases and conclusions were reached not to return the child in 52 cases. Of the cases requesting the return of the child from another country to Japan, children were returned in 68 cases and conclusions were reached not to return the child in 39 cases.

In order to build awareness of the Hague Convention among a broad public, MOFA holds online seminars and contributes articles to relevant local community press to raise awareness among Japanese nationals living overseas, as well as running seminars in Japan for local governments and relevant institutions such as bar associations. MOFA also puts efforts into PR activities by creating awareness-raising videos on the Hague Convention and posting them on MOFA's website and video-sharing platforms.³

• 3 See the MOFA website concerning the 1980 Hague Convention and Japan's efforts:
  https://www.mofa.go.jp/fp/hr_ha/page22e_000249.html