HC Deb 21 November 2000 vol 357 cc132-3W
Sir John Stanley

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the countries which have acceded to The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of Child Abduction but whose accession has not yet been declared as accepted by the Government under Article 38; what are the dates of the accession to the Convention of each of these countries; and for which of these countries it is his intention to make a declaration of acceptance in due course. [139012]

Mr. Hain

Currently, 31 countries have ratified The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Another 33 countries have acceded to the Convention. The UK has not recognised the accessions of countries. These are:

  • Belarus (acceded on 1 April 1998)
  • Brazil (acceded on 1 January 2000)
  • Costa Rica (acceded on 1 February 1999)
  • Fiji (acceded on 1 June 1999)
  • Moldova (acceded on 1 July 1998)
  • Paraguay (acceded on 1 August 1998)
  • Trinidad and Tobago (acceded on 1 September 2000)
  • Uruguay (acceded on 1 February 2000)
  • Uzbekistan (acceded on 1 August 1999).

The UK's recognition of Fiji's accession will be placed on the next Statutory Instruments as we have completed a review and are satisfied that they can meet their obligations under the Convention.

We take our own obligations under the Hague Convention very seriously and will only recognise the accession of states whom we are confident can implement the Convention effectively and efficiently. We are not planning to recognise the accession of any new states (apart from Fiji) to the Convention until the 4th Special Commission to review the Convention, which will take place in The Hague from 22–28 March 2001.

One of the issues which is to be discussed at the Commission is membership criteria for future member states. This will address the suitability of candidates and whether they have the appropriate structures in place to meet all of their obligations under the Convention. We plan to apply the criteria consistently to future members, and to those states whose accession we have not yet recognised.