MEPs will address the high number of parental child abduction cases due to the reluctance of Japanese authorities to comply with international law.
In a resolution to be put to the vote on Wednesday, MEPs will express their concerns over children’s wellbeing as a result of children in Japan being abducted by a parent. They will call on the Japanese authorities to enforce international rules on child protection and to introduce changes to their legal system to allow for shared custody.
Background information
Parliament has received a significant number of appeals in the past few years on cases of Japanese parental child abduction and visiting rights, where one of the parents is an EU citizen. Petitioners point out that international court decisions in Japan on the return of the child are not being enforced properly, Japanese law lacks shared custody provisions and that this has harmful effects on the welfare of the child.