International child abduction in the European Union: return of the child vs domestic or family violence

Abstract

The occurrence of domestic or family violence in cases of international child abduction is increasingly common, in which the detention or illegal transfer of the child is used as a means of alienation. The system of immediate return of the child of the Hague Convention of 1980 provides for this circumstance with the exception of grave risk of harm of article 13(1)(b), in a polyhedral regulatory framework, which is completed by Regulation 2201/2003, Brussels IIa –for intra-EU cases– and with the protection measures provided for in the Hague Convention of 1996 -between the States Parties- and the procedure of Chapter IV bis of the Spanish Civil Prosecution Law. Problems in the practical application and appreciation of the best interests of the child are particularly controversial in these cases.