Japan ratifies the Hague Convention on Child Abduction

On Friday 24 January 2014, Japan formally ratified the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Japan is the last Group of Eight member to ratify the Convention, and joins 90 other nations where the Convention is in force.

Although it will not apply retrospectively, the ratification, which comes into effect on 1 April 2014, will enable left-behind parents to seek that their child be returned from Japan to their home country.

Australia ratified the Convention in 1986.