P9_TA(2020)0182

International and domestic parental abduction of EU children in Japan

European Parliament resolution of 8 July 2020 on the international and domestic parental abduction of EU children in Japan (2020/2621(RSP))

(2021/C 371/01)

The European Parliament,

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having regard to Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

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having regard to Article 9 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) of 20 November 1989,

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having regard to the Hague Convention on the civil aspects of international child abduction of 25 October 1980 (hereinafter ‘1980 Hague Convention’),

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having regard to Article 2, Article 3 (1), Article 3 (5) and Article 3 (6) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU),

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having regard to Article 24 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union,

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having regard to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963,

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having regard to the principles highlighted in its resolution of 28 April 2016 on safeguarding the best interests of the child across the EU on the basis of petitions addressed to the European Parliament (1),

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having regard to the EU Guidelines on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of the Child of 2017),

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having regard to the role and activities of the European Parliament Coordinator on Children’s Rights, on the issue of parental child abduction and custody and access disputes involving children with EU citizenship in Japan,

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having regard to the deliberations of the Committee on Petitions during its meeting of 19-20 February 2020,

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having regard to Rule 227(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas in its meeting of 19 February 2020, the Committee on Petitions discussed petitions 0594/2019, 0841/2019, 0842/2019 and 0843/2019 concerning parental child abduction and visiting rights involving couples of mixed nationality, where one partner is an EU national and the other Japanese;

B. whereas those petitions raised concerns over Japan’s poor record in the enforcement of court decisions to return children under the 1980 Hague Convention proceedings and over the lack of means to enforce the access and visiting rights, thus preventing EU parents from maintaining a meaningful relationship with their children residing in Japan;

C. whereas the significant number of unsolved parental child abduction cases where one of the parents is an EU national and the other is a Japanese national is alarming;

D. whereas there is no possibility under Japanese law to obtain shared or joint custody; whereas it has been shown by different sources that child abduction is a severe form of child abuse;

E. whereas access or visiting rights of left-behind parents in Japan are severely limited or non-existent;

F. whereas all Member States are Parties to the 1980 Hague Convention and the UNCRC;

G. whereas Japan acceded to the 1980 Hague Convention in 2014 and has been a Party to the UNCRC since 1994;

H. whereas children who are EU nationals and reside in Japan must enjoy the right to protection and care as is necessary for their well-being; whereas they may express their views freely; whereas such views must be taken into consideration on matters that concern them, in accordance with their age and maturity;

I. whereas parents have the primary responsibility for the upbringing and development of their child; whereas Parties are obliged to use their best efforts to ensure recognition of the principle that both parents have common responsibilities for the upbringing and development of their child;

J. whereas, in all actions relating to EU children in Japan, the child’s best interests must be the primary consideration;

K. whereas every EU child in Japan must have the right to maintain, on a regular basis, a personal relationship and direct contact with both their parents, unless that is contrary to their interests;

L. whereas Parties are obliged to ensure that a child is not to be separated from their parents against their will, except when competent authorities subject to judicial review, determine in accordance with applicable law and procedures, that such separation is necessary for the best interests of the child; whereas such a determination may be necessary in a particular case such as one involving abuse or neglect of the child by the parents, or one where the parents are living separately and a decision must be made as to the child’s place of residence;

M. whereas Parties are obliged to respect the right of a child who is separated from one or both parents to maintain personal relations and direct contact with both parents on a regular basis, except if this is contrary to the child’s best interests;

N. whereas in order to secure the timely return of the child, all Parties to the 1980 Hague Convention must undertake to put in place domestic measures and legislation that are compatible with their treaty obligations and duties;

O. whereas a child whose parents reside in different states must have the right to maintain on a regular basis, save in exceptional circumstances, personal relations and direct contacts with both parents;

P. whereas French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on behalf of French, Italian and German parents, and the European Ambassadors to Japan sent a joint letter concerning parental abduction to the Japanese Minister for Justice;

Q. whereas in August 2019, a formal complaint was submitted to the UN Human Rights Council by parents whose children had been abducted by the other parent;

R. whereas Parliament’s Coordinator on Children’s Rights has been assisting individual parents and raising specific issues relating to parental child abduction and custody and access disputes involving EU nationals with the Japanese authorities since 2018, including the Japanese Minister for Justice in October 2018 and the Japanese Ambassador to the EU in May 2019;

S. whereas on 6 March 2020, the Committee on Petitions, and on 5 February 2020 Parliament’s Coordinator on Children’s Rights sent a letter to the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR), Josep Borrell, requesting that Japan’s international obligations under the 1980 Hague Convention and the UNCRC be included on the agenda of the next joint meeting organised as part of the Strategic Partnership Agreement between the EU and Japan;

T. whereas on 31 January 2020, at the second joint committee meeting under the EU-Japan Strategic Partnership Agreement, the EU called on Japan to improve its domestic legal framework and its effective implementation so as to ensure the respect of judicial decisions and Japan’s international commitments, such as the UNCRC and the 1980 Hague Convention; whereas the EU also insisted on the need to ensure the best interests of the child and to respect visiting rights granted to parents;

U. whereas following the outcome of its meeting of 19 — 20 February 2020, the Committee on Petitions sent a letter to the Mission of Japan to the European Union, in which it urged the Japanese authorities to comply with national and international legislation concerning children’s rights and the civil aspects of international child abduction;

(1) OJ C 66, 21.2.2018, p. 2.