Czech Man Suspected Of Child Abduction

[Mulboyne]

Kyodo: Czech man takes son out of Japan in suspected child abduction
A Czech man has taken his 5-year-old son apparently to a place overseas from his home in Gifu Prefecture, prompting the boy's Japanese mother to seek help from the Foreign Ministry in searching for the boy's whereabouts, sources close to the matter said Saturday.

[(1VB)freels]

Ohhhh how the tables have turned.......

[Mike Oxlong]

Another fucked back-story, no doubt...

[omae mona]

Ohhhh how the tables have turned.......

I doubt the tables have turned at all. If he returns to his country, which is a signatory to the Hague convention, his government is obliged to return the child to Japan. Unless he is in hiding, he will not get to keep the kid.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

I doubt the tables have turned at all. If he returns to his country, which is a signatory to the Hague convention, his government is obliged to return the child to Japan. Unless he is in hiding, he will not get to keep the kid.

I'm not sure whether that would actually be the case. I used to work with a woman whose kid was taken from her by her first Japanese husband and she could do nothing about it. When her second marriage crumbled in Japan, she snatched her kid and scrambled back to her native country (a Hague signatory) and, as far as I know, stayed there with impunity.
I'm by no means an expert, though.
It's sad to again another case like this.
I still argue the more fundamental problem is the lack of shared custody under Japanese law. Until that is solved, there will not be a solution regarding the Hague convention.

[omae mona]

I'm not sure whether that would actually be the case. I used to work with a woman whose kid was taken from her by her first Japanese husband and she could do nothing about it. When her second marriage crumbled in Japan, she snatched her kid and scrambled back to her native country (a Hague signatory) and, as far as I know, stayed there with impunity.
I'm by no means an expert, though.

I am sure no expert either. I wonder if your acquaintance's second husband (or the Japanese government) actually took the steps of filing an official grievance under Hague. If they did and the foreign country still didn't respond, that seems kind of strange. But maybe the Hague convention doesn't really have any effect. I have no idea.

I still argue the more fundamental problem is the lack of shared custody under Japanese law. Until that is solved, there will not be a solution regarding the Hague convention.

Agreed. I think it is important to remember that the vast majority of custody disputes do not involve international kidnapping, so Hague has nothing to do with them. And yes, if they solved this custody problem domestically, there would be a lot fewer international kidnapping cases.

[FG Lurker]

The Czech Republic is a Convention Country.

It seems rather unfair that a country that hasn't signed the convention (Japan) should be able to make use of it. Actually, it would be really fucked if Japan could make use of the convention without signing it -- there would be no benefit to Japan to signing if this is the case.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

I am sure no expert either. I wonder if your acquaintance's second husband (or the Japanese government) actually took the steps of filing an official grievance under Hague. If they did and the foreign country still didn't respond, that seems kind of strange. But maybe the Hague convention doesn't really have any effect. I have no idea.

Unfortunately, I don't know the details. But I get the feeling you might be right and that signatories would be obliged to act.

It seems rather unfair that a country that hasn't signed the convention (Japan) should be able to make use of it. Actually, it would be really fucked if Japan could make use of the convention without signing it -- there would be no benefit to Japan to signing if this is the case.

Which probably helps to explain why Japan hasn't signed.

What alarms me about the Hague is that many Japanese lawyers regarded (locally) as human rights crusaders are opposed to the country signing it.

[Christoff]

it is very unlikely that either government will engage in much diplomatic pressure over a domestic dispute. it seems highly unlikely that either government will remove their respective representatives over a trivial dispute when there are greater economic concerns at work

[Kanchou]

It figures that an Eastern European dude would succeed (for the time being) where an American failed miserably...

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

it is very unlikely that either government will engage in much diplomatic pressure over a domestic dispute. it seems highly unlikely that either government will remove their respective representatives over a trivial dispute when there are greater economic concerns at work

You would assume so, but Japanese governments have traditionally acted in the interests of their citizens, especially in situations where the perception is that the Japanese citizen has been wronged.
I wouldn't be surprised to see the Japanese government act to the extent that it will be able to "Czechmate" the foreign man involved. Let's not forget the Japanese tend to have one set of rules for themselves and another set for gaijin.
In the meantime, the tug-of-war is going to fry the brain of the poor little boy caught in the middle.

[Catoneinutica]

You would assume so, but Japanese governments have traditionally acted in the interests of their citizens, especially in situations where the perception is that the Japanese citizen has been wronged.
I wouldn't be surprised to see the Japanese government act to the extent that it will be able to "Czechmate" the foreign man involved. Let's not forget the Japanese tend to have one set of rules for themselves and another set for gaijin.
In the meantime, the tug-of-war is going to fry the brain of the poor little boy caught in the middle.

Okay, we got a "Czechmate," but no "bouncing Czech" yet? C'mon guys!

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Okay, we got a "Czechmate," but no "bouncing Czech" yet? C'mon guys!

Hang on a second....I'm just Czeching out my bad pun dictionary to see if I can find anything more to use.

[Mike Oxlong]

[Kanchou]

Hang on a second....I'm just Czeching out my bad pun dictionary to see if I can find anything more to use.

If she had gotten an abortion, it would have been a cancelled Czech...

[Samurai_Jerk]

That JT story just doesn't Czech out.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

It seems the couple have something of a Czech-ered past...

[TennoChinko]

Unfortunately, I don't know the details. But I get the feeling you might be right and that signatories would be obliged to act.



Which probably helps to explain why Japan hasn't signed.

What alarms me about the Hague is that many Japanese lawyers regarded (locally) as human rights crusaders are opposed to the country signing it.

For those lawyers, they probably don't see any hypocrisy whatsoever - for their definition of what constitutes human is Japanese. Gaijin = hinin

[sublight]

It figures that an Eastern European dude would succeed (for the time being) where an American failed miserably...

True, the American turned to his government for a handout, while the Eastern European simply took matters into his own hands.