§ Mr. Loveridgeasked the Solicitor-General for Scotland what effect the European convention on the custody of children, signed in Luxembourg on 20 May, will have on the prospect that courts in Scotland could effectively remove control of a child from one parent, where that parent has had the custody of the child awarded under a court order in England.
§ The Solicitor-General for ScotlandThe European convention is intended to alleviate the problems covered by international child custody disputes. It would have no application to custody questions arising within the United Kingdom unless they had an international element.
Because the grounds on which the courts can assume jurisdiction in custody cases differ as between Scotland and England, and may to some extent overlap, it is sometimes possible, though unusual, for conflicting orders to be made. The Scottish Law Commission and the Law Commission for England and Wales are considering jointly these and related problems, and I understand that they are making good progress in this work.