PART II

The Hague Convention

3. —In this Part “Contracting State” means a state in respect of which the Hague Convention is in force in accordance with the provisions of that Convention and shall be construed so that this Act shall have effect in relation to—

(a) the states which have acceded to that Convention, or any states which may accede to that Convention, and in respect of which the State has made a declaration pursuant to Article 38 of that Convention, and

(b) the places as respects which that Convention has effect by virtue of Articles 39 and 40 of that Convention.

4. —(1) The Minister for Foreign Affairs may by order declare—

(a) that any state specified in the order is a Contracting State, or

(b) that—

(i) a declaration (the text of which shall be set out in the order) has been made pursuant to Article 38, 39 or 40 of the Hague Convention, or

(ii) a reservation, or a withdrawal thereof (the text of which shall be set out in the order) has been made pursuant to Article 24, 26 or (in the case of a withdrawal) 42 of that Convention, or

(iii) a denunciation (the text of which shall be set out in the order) has been made pursuant to Article 44 of that Convention,

to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

(2) An order that is in force under subsection (1) of this section shall, as the case may be, be evidence—

(a) that any state specified in the order is a Contracting State;

(b) that a declaration, a reservation, a withdrawal of a reservation or a denunciation set out in the order was made and of its contents.

(3) The Minister for Foreign Affairs may by order amend or revoke an order under this section (including an order under this subsection).

5. —(1) For the purposes of Article 14 of the Hague Convention a document, duly authenticated, which purports to be a copy of a decision or determination of a judicial or administrative authority of a Contracting State other than the State shall without further proof be deemed to be a true copy of the decision or determination, unless the contrary is shown.

(2) For the purposes of Articles 14 and 30 of the Hague Convention the original or a copy of any such document as is mentioned in Article 8 of that Convention shall be admissible—

(a) insofar as it consists of a statement of fact, as evidence of that fact, and

(b) insofar as it consists of a statement of opinion, as evidence of that opinion.

(3) A document which—

(a) purports to be a translation of a decision or determination of a judicial or administrative authority of a Contracting State other than the State or of a document mentioned in Article 8 of the Hague Convention, and

(b) is certified as correct by a person competent to do so,

shall be admissible as evidence of the translation.

(4) A document purporting to be a copy of a decision, determination or declaration of a judicial or administrative authority of a Contracting State shall, for the purposes of this Part, be regarded as being duly authenticated if it purports—

(a) to bear the seal of that authority, or

(b) to be certified by a person in his capacity as a judge or officer of that authority to be a true copy of a decision, determination or declaration of that authority.

6. —(1) Subject to the provisions of this Part, the Hague Convention shall have the force of law in the State and judicial notice shall be taken of it.

(2) The text of the Hague Convention in the English language is set out for convenience of reference in the First Schedule to this Act.

7. —(1) For the purposes of this Part and the Hague Convention the Court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine applications under that Convention.

(2) For the purposes of such applications the expression “the judicial or administrative authority” where it occurs in the Hague Convention shall be construed as referring to the Court unless the context otherwise requires.

8. —(1) The Minister may by order appoint a Central Authority (referred to in this Part as the Central Authority in the State) to discharge the functions under the Hague Convention of a Central Authority.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, unless and until the Minister appoints a Central Authority under this section, the said functions shall be discharged by the Minister and references in this Part to the Central Authority in the State shall be construed, accordingly, as references to the Minister.

(3) The Minister may by order amend or revoke an order under this section (including an order under this subsection).

9. —(1) Any application, in such form as may be prescribed, made under the Hague Convention in respect of a child removed to the State may be addressed to the Central Authority in the State.

(2) Where the Central Authority in the State receives any such application and is satisfied that the application is an application to which the Hague Convention applies, it shall take action or cause action to be taken under that Convention to secure the return of the child.

10. —(1) Any application, in such form as may be prescribed, made under the Hague Convention in respect of a child removed from the State to another Contracting State may be addressed to the Central Authority in the State.

(2) Where the Central Authority in the State receives any such application and is satisfied that the application is an application to which the Hague Convention applies, it shall, on behalf of the applicant, take any action required to be taken by a Central Authority under that Convention.

(3) Nothing in subsection (1) of this section shall prevent the Central Authority in the State from dealing with any application made under the Hague Convention by or on behalf of a person in respect of a child removed from a Contracting State (not being the State) to another Contracting State (not being the State).

11. —Nothing in this Part shall prevent a person from applying in the first instance to the Court, whether or not under the Hague Convention, in respect of the breach of rights of custody of, or breach of rights of access to, a child removed to the State.

12. —(1) Where an application has been made or is about to be made to the Court under the Hague Convention, the Court may of its own motion or on an application under this section, at any time before the application is determined, give such interim directions as it thinks fit for the purpose of securing the welfare of the child concerned, or preventing prejudice to interested persons or changes in the circumstances relevant to the determination of the application.

(2) An application for interim directions under this section may, where the case is one of urgency, be made ex parte.

13. —(1) Any person who has an interest in proceedings in the Court or in proceedings about to be commenced in the Court under this Part in respect of a child removed to the State shall, where he knows that an application relating to the custody of the child is pending in or before any court in the State, give notice to that court of the proceedings, or pending proceedings (as the case may be), under the Hague Convention and that court, having notified the parties to the proceedings before it of that notice, shall stay in accordance with Article 16 of that Convention all further proceedings in the matter and shall notify the Court of the stay.

(2) For the purpose of this section an application relating to custody of a child shall be construed as including a reference to an application for—

(a) an order making, varying or discharging an order regarding the custody of, or the right of access to, a child under the Guardianship of Infants Act, 1964 ;

(b) an order made pursuant to Part II or IV of the Children Act, 1908, in relation to the care of a child;

(c) the recognition or enforcement of a decision relating to custody under Part III of this Act.

14. —Where the Central Authority in the State is requested to provide information relating to a child under Article 7.d of the Hague Convention it may—

(a) request a probation and welfare officer to make a report to it in writing with respect to any matter relating to the child which appears to it to be relevant;

(b) request a health board to arrange for a suitably qualified person to make such a report to it; or

(c) request any court to which a written report relating to the child has been made to send it a copy of the report,

and any such request shall be duly complied with.

15. —(1) The Court may, on an application made for the purposes of Article 15 of the Hague Convention by any person appearing to the Court to have an interest in the matter, make a declaration that the removal of any child from, or his retention outside, the State was wrongful within the meaning of Article 3 of that Convention.

(2) The Central Authority in the State shall take action or cause action to be taken to assist the person referred to in subsection (1) of this section in making an application under this section if a request for such assistance, in such form as may be prescribed, is made by him or on his behalf by the Central Authority of another Contracting State.

16. —As respects a decision relating to custody made by a court in the State (including a declaration made by the Court under section 15 of this Act) the registrar or clerk of the court shall, at the request of a person who wishes to make an application under the Hague Convention in a Contracting State other than the State or at the request on his behalf of the Central Authority in the State and subject to any conditions that may be specified by rules of court, give to the person or the Central Authority, as the case may be, the following documents—

(a) a copy of the decision duly authenticated;

(b) Where the decision was given in default of appearance, the original or a copy, certified by the registrar or clerk of the court to be a true copy, of a document establishing that notice of the institution of proceedings was served on the person in default.