Conference: International Child Abduction and Human Rights: A Critical Assessment of the Status Quo

On October 16, 2014, the British Institute of International and Comparative Law and the University of Antwerp will hold a conference on "International Child Abduction and Human Rights: A Critical Assessment of the Status Quo," in Antwerp. The program is here. Here's the idea:

Against the background of the increasingly diverging case law of the CJEU and ECHR, this event examines and critically assesses the current legal framework for international child abduction cases. The question is how far a court's duty reaches when assessing the grant of a return order. Should the court apply a very marginal test only, in essence sending the child back unless there is a very serious reason not to do so? Or must it take full account of the right to family life of each individual child and his or her parents?

Speakers will discuss the use of the grounds for refusal; the role of Central Authorities; the future of the 1980 Hague Convention and of the Brussels II bis Regulation; potential ways to a harmonised case law of the CJEU and ECHR; children's rights and interests; and the concerns of children's organisations.