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POINT OF VIEW/ Tommy G. Thompson: Japan needs international child support
law
Asahi Shinbun, English Edition
March 25, 2004
Source:
http://www.asahi.com/english/opinion/TKY200403260119.html (version on this
page - seems to be gone))
Also here:
http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/p/tp-20040322-50.html (seems to be gone)
Also here:
http://www.globalhealth.gov/Japan_oped_032204.shtml (similar but not exactly
same)
Children with dual nationalities are the truest bridges that exist between our
two cultures. They foster understanding far more than professional diplomats or
politicians could ever hope. In this 10th anniversary of the International Year
of the Family, we should cherish children with dual nationalities as symbols of
what unites us as peoples and nations.
Sadly but inevitably, the number of international divorces and separations
affecting Japanese families is also on the rise. As is always the case with
divorce, it is the bridges-our children-who suffer most.
Globalization means people are moving across international borders much more
than in the past. Family law, which has historically been governed by domestic
law, increasingly has had to be internationalized to keep up with the changes.
Countries are required to cooperate to solve difficult questions affecting
families and children, just as they have to cooperate on security and economic
issues.
Parental child abduction and the failure to pay child support are two serious
problems that are increasingly arising in the international context. These
issues are difficult enough when everything happens within the borders of a
single country. They become extraordinarily difficult when more than one country
is involved. International cooperation is essential if we are to protect
families in these situations.
For example, when one parent seeks unlawfully to remove a child from his or her
habitual residence, or to deprive the other parent of access to the child, this
is child abduction. The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International
Child Abduction, adopted by 74 countries, is an important tool for those seeking
the return of children abducted across international borders, or to exercise
their rights of access to see them.
In addition to participating in The Hague abduction convention, the United
States has built up a body of supplementary laws and regulations to protect
against international child abduction. We have a requirement, for example, that
both parents approve of a passport application for minors under the age of 14.
We also have strict laws governing child support, for which the Department of
Health and Human Services has primary responsibility. We can deny, for example,
passport services to parents who are delinquent in paying child support. These
laws have been extremely successful in forcing non-custodial parents to meet
court-ordered financial obligations to their offspring.
The United States also participates in a number of bilateral reciprocal child
support enforcement agreements, under which the United States will collect child
support for a custodial parent residing in a partner country from a U.S.
resident who is a non-custodial parent, and the other country will do the same
for U.S. custodial parents.
The United States and Japan are both participating in the negotiation of a new
multilateral Hague convention on the enforcement of child support obligations.
While we welcome Japan's involvement in this negotiation, we were disappointed
to learn that Japan does not expect to become a party to the new convention in
the foreseeable future.
Japan is the only G-7 industrialized country that is not a party to The Hague
abduction convention.
It does not have a formal two-parent signature requirement for obtaining
passports for minors. It has no bilateral child support enforcement agreement
with another country, and has no plans to participate in the new multilateral
child support convention.
Japanese law enforcement and social service agencies unfortunately seem unable
to enforce custody and support orders-even those laid down by their own courts,
let alone from another country's courts.
Obviously, each country has its own legal system, which reflects that country's
deeply held values. International legal cooperation in family matters cannot and
does not require that all countries' legal systems be exactly the same. But just
as countries have to be willing to adjust their own laws in order to compete in
a global economy and participate in the fight against international terrorism,
they also have to ensure that their family laws provide an effective remedy in
international abduction and child support cases.
The U.S. government considers the welfare and protection of U.S. citizens
overseas, especially children, one of our most important responsibilities. We
strongly believe that children best prosper when they have the benefit of the
financial and emotional support of both parents and that governments have a
responsibility to facilitate this support.
As we celebrate together this 10th anniversary of the International Year of the
Family, I urge Japan to take the steps necessary to put in place a legal system
under which Japan can cooperate fully with the United States and other countries
on international child abduction and the recovery of child support.
* * *
The author is secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He
contributed this comment to The Asahi Shimbun.(IHT/Asahi: March 26,2004) (03/26)
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