Press Releases

1．On January 24, the Government of Japan decided at its Cabinet Meeting to sign, accept, and promulgate the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (the Hague Convention).

2．In response to the decision, Mr. Masaru Tsuji, Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Japan to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, carried out the signing and deposit of the instrument of acceptance of the Hague Convention at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

3．Thus, the Hague Convention will enter into force for Japan on April 1, and the Central Authority in charge of implementation of the Convention will be launched.

4．Since the number of people who move across borders has dramatically increased and international marriage and international divorce have increased in recent years, it is very important for the Government of Japan to conclude the Hague Convention, which is an international rule to deal with issues such as the wrongful removal of a child. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will work to appropriately implement the Hague Convention from April 1, when the Hague Convention will enter into force.

(Reference 1)
The Hague Convention stipulates that the Convention will enter into force on the first day of the third calendar month after the deposit of the instrument of acceptance (Article 43, paragraph 2), and therefore the date of entry into force is determined at the point of time of the deposit.

(Reference 2)
The Act for Implementation of the Hague Convention stipulates that the Minister for Foreign Affairs serves as the Central Authority of Japan.