Japan is yet to ratify the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, however Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says that he intends for Japan to join the international Hague Convention on child-custody and abduction.   Prime Minister Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) have approved bills to ratify the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and it is anticipated that they will be passed by the parliament in March.

There are approximately 90 different countries that are signatories to the convention, but very few of these are from Asia.

Australia does not  have a database of parental abduction cases, but it has been reported (Lou Robson (6 January 2007) “Wedding spelt the end.” The Courier-Mail (Queensland Newspapers)) that there have been at least thirteen cases of unresolved parental abduction to Japan.

If you have any questions in relation to interstate or international child abduction, contact our family lawyers at Claire Naidu & Co, Lawyers and Mediators.  Click here for our contact details.