MINSK, 17 May (BelTA) – There are plans to amend the procedure of processing cases falling within the scope of the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, Belarus Justice Minister Oleg Slizhevsky told reporters, BelTA has learned.
“Some matters need additional legislative action. The Justice Ministry has drafted a bill to amend a series of legislative acts, for example, the Code of Civil Procedure, the Marriage and Family Code and some laws. These amendments are designed to settle all the technicalities regarding the treatment of cases falling within the scope of the convention. They will specify the documents to be studied in the process and the very order of consideration of applications,” Oleg Slizhevsky said.
The most substantial amendments will be introduced to the Code of Civil Procedure, because the implementation of the convention primarily has to do with the work of general jurisdiction courts.
There are plans to make the decision-making process more clear and understandable. Judge of the Supreme Court Vera Kruglova noted that an additional chapter will be added to the Code of Civil Procedure. This chapter will set out proceedings for the return of children who have been wrongfully removed or kept away from their home country, starting from submitting an application to specifying the circumstances the court will have to take into consideration in its judgments.
The bill has been submitted to the parliament for scrutiny.
The Code of Civil Procedure provides for the priority of international agreements in judicial proceedings related to child abduction and return. Judges take into consideration all circumstances, including the length, frequency, conditions and reasons for a child's stay in a country, nationality, language, family and social contacts.
Belarus joined the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction in 1998.
Minsk is hosting the conference to discuss implementation of the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction on 17 May. The participants of the conference are discussing best practices in protecting children's rights and interests in the situation when children are relocated by one of their parents in another country (held in a foreign state) without consent of the other parent. There are plans to improve the national legislation in order to ensure more efficient implementation of the convention.
