Press Releases
The Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (the Hague Convention) Accession of the Republic of the Philippines and its entry into force between Japan and the Republic of the Philippines
1. The Republic of the Philippines deposited its instrument of accession to the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (the Hague Convention) to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on March 16, 2016, and the Convention will come into force in the Republic of the Philippines on June 1, 2016. The Republic of the Philippines will be the 94th Contracting State.
2. Japan declared its acceptance of accession to the Convention of the Republic of the Philippines on March 29. The Convention will come into force between the Republic of the Philippines and Japan on June 1, 2016.
(References) Outline of the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (the Hague Convention)
(1) The Convention stipulates the procedures for returning children to the state of their habitual residence and cooperation between contracting states in order to realize the access to children to set up an international framework for resolving the issues of the children wrongfully removed or retained across borders.
(2) The Convention came into force on April 1, 2014 in Japan. The Minister for Foreign Affairs (Hague Convention Division, Consular Affairs Bureau) is designated as the Central Authority as set force in the Convention and implements the Convention.
(3) As of April 2016, 93 countries including Japan are Contracting States of the Convention. In Asian region, there are 6 Contracting states: China (only Hong Kong and Macao), Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand.