When two worlds collide: the 1970 Hague Evidence Convention and the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention

Dr Onyója Momoh, Barrister, 5 Pump Court Chambers

Most will agree that the relationship between the 1996 and 1980 Hague Conventions is a match made in heaven. However, the intersection of the 1970 Hague Evidence Convention and the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention is far less harmonious, particularly in the context of an application for rights of access under Article 21, as seen in Case X. When the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention came into play, a decade after the 1970 Hague Evidence Convention, the drafters did not consider it necessary to rely on the latter’s procedural framework for the taking or exchange of evidence in abduction or contact cases. So far as bureaucratic hurdles are concerned, invoking the 1970 Hague Evidence Convention is arbitrary, as it offers little practical benefit to family law proceedings under the 1980 Hague Convention. As in Case X, it is an under-explored issue but may be a non-event. Nevertheless, the taking or hearing evidence from abroad is commonplace in 1980 Hague Convention cases or other children act proceedings with an international element, and while variations in how “evidence” is defined across jurisdictions are to be expected, efforts should be made to prevent delays in inter-jurisdictional evidence exchange.