“Indeed, when it comes to the well-being and protection of children, the Supreme Court (SC) of the Philippines has always been visibly at the forefront,” declared Justice Amy C. Lazaro-Javier during the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) held in Makati City.
Justice Javier presented to the conference participants the Philippines’ perspective on the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction of 1980 (HCAC). The Philippines became a party to the HCAC in 2016.
The HCCH is an inter-governmental organization that administers several international conventions, protocols and soft law instruments.
The Philippines is a party to five HCCH instruments – the 1961 Apostille Convention, the 1965 Service Convention, the 1980 Child Abduction Convention, the 1993 Adoption Convention, and the 2007 Child Support Convention.
The Philippines’ SC is a co-host of the three-day HCCH Asia Pacific Week from Oct. 18 to 20, 2022.
“The best interests of the child is the paramount consideration in child abduction cases,” Justice Javier said during her presentation.
She said that HCAC is “primarily based on the principle that it is not in the best interests of the child to be removed from or retained in a place where the child has not attained a degree of integration in a social or family environment.”
The Philippines, she pointed out, has been faithful to its commitment to the HCAC by providing a comprehensive yet brief overview of the procedure on the return of wrongfully removed or retained children across international borders.
She said the procedure is laid out in the Department of Justice (DOJ) Circular No. 010 issued on Feb. 22, 2022 and the Rule on International Child Abduction Cases, which was promulgated by the SC last Oct. 18, the first day of the HCCH event.
The rule, which implements the HCAC, “provides an expeditious procedure to facilitate the prompt return of children, who have been wrongfully removed or retained across international boundaries, to their state or country of habitual residence based on the presumption that, save in exceptional circumstances, the wrongful removal or retention of the child is not in his/her best interest,” she said.
She pointed out that for the rule to apply, “the child must have been brought to the Philippines after leaving the state of his/her alleged habitual residence and HCAC must be in force between the Philippines and the country alleged to be the child’s habitual residence.”
She reminded that “the State has a duty to protect children.” In the Philippines, she said, “this duty can be fulfilled through our affirmation of our international commitments to our treaty obligations which are in harmony with the Constitution and the laws.”
Justice Javier was joined in the panel on the 1980 Child Abduction Convention and 1996 Child Protection Convention by Justice Victoria Bennett of the Federal Circuit and Family of Australia and Senior Deputy to the State Attorney Ms. Leslie Kaufman of the Ministry of Justice of Israel.
The panel was led by the Philippines’ Court of Appeals Justice Angelene Mary W. Quimpo-Sale.
SC’s Court Administrator Raul B. Villanueva also spoke on the Philippines’ perspective on the 1965 Service Convention, to which the country acceded in 2020.
Villanueva was joined in the panel, which was led by Philippine Bar Association 3rd Vice President Atty. Peter Corvera, by Judge Soojin Cho of the Seoul Western District Court of Republic of Korea and Mr. Brody Warren, Senior Legal Officer, Attorney-General’s Department of Australia, who also discussed the 1970 Evidence Convention. Mr. Warren joined through videoconferencing.
Retired SC Justice Francis H. Jadeleza, Justice David Goddard of the High Court and Court of Appeal of New Zealand, and Judge Gao Xiaoli, Director General of the International Cooperation Department of the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China were the panelists in the 2005 Choice of Court Convention and 2019 Judgments Convention. The panel was led by HCCH Deputy Secretary General Dr Gérardine Goh Escolar.
The 1961 Apostille Convention panelists were Ms. Dyan Kristine Miranda-Pastrana, Director of the Office of Consular Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA); Mr. Paul Neo, Chief Operations Officer/Chief Financial Officer of the Singapore Academy of Law; and Mr. Tudiono Tudiono, Director, Central Authority and International Law, Directorate General of Legal Administrative Affairs, Ministry of Law and Human Rights of Indonesia. The panel was led by Assistant Secretary Henry S. Bensurto, Jr., Office of the Consular Affairs, DFA.
The 1993 Adoption Convention panelists were Ms. Capucine Page, HCCH Legal Officer; Ms. Bernadette B. Abejo, former Executive Director, National Authority for Child Care (NACC); and Ms. Dao Thi Ha of the Department of Adoption, Ministry of Justice of Vietnam. The panel was led by NACC Executive Director Ms. Janella Ejercito Estrada.
The 2007 Child Support Convention panelists were Atty. Margaret Haynes of the National Child Support Enforcement of the United States; University of the Philippines Professor Elizabeth Aguiling-Pangalangan; and Ms. Leeanne Spillane, Inland Revenue Department of New Zealand. The panel was led by Philippine Embassy in Seoul Third Secretary Atty. Jilliane Joyce R. De Dumo-Cornista.
TAGS: #SC #HCCH #Child Abduction