With the accessions in March of Montenegro and Rwanda, the number of Contracting States to the Hague Intercountry Adoption Convention has reached a total of 87. For details, see the Hague Conference web site at www.hcch.net.
Maintenance Convention moves forward in Congress
Adoptions from Vietnam Still on Hold
Although the Hague Intercountry Adoption Convention came into force in Vietnam on February 1, 2012, US Citizenship and Immigration Services and the US State Department have announced that they will not resume processing of intercountry adoptions there until Vietnam has a fully Hague-compliant adoption system in place.
Special Commission Makes Recomendations
Winding up its work on January 31, the Special Commission on the practical operation of the Hague Child Abduction and Child Protection Conventions, made a series of recommendations including these:
Vietnam Joins Adoption Convention
Vietnam deposited its instruments of ratification for the 1993 Intercountry Adoption Convention on November 1, 2011. The Convention will come into force for Vietnam on February 1, 2012. The announcement from the Hague Conference is here; a notice from the U.S.
Hague Conference seeks Legal Officer in International Family Law and Child Protection
Further information is available here; the deadline for applications is January 4, 2012. This is the posted job description:
Agenda Set for Hague Special Commission Meeting
The Hague Conference has announced details for Part II of the Special Commission meeting, which began in June 2011, on the operation of the 1980 Child Abduction Convention and the 1996 Child Protection Convention. Part II of the meeting, which will focus on policy issues rather than the practical operation of the conventions, will take place in The Hague from Wednesday, January 25 to Tuesday, January 31, 2012. Based on consultations with member countries, the Hague Conference reports that “although there is no consensus for a protocol to the 1980 Convention, there is significant agreeme
Hearing on Child Abduction in the House
The House Foreign Affairs Committee Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Human Rights convened a hearing on July 28, 2011 to address ”Improving Implementation of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.” Witnesses included two members of the State Department: Susan Jacobs, special adviser for children’s issues, in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, and Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of State, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
Russia Joins Child Abduction Convention
On July 28, 2011, the Russian Federation deposited its instruments of accession to the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention, which will come into force in Russia in October 2011. The Convention will not come into effect between the United States and Russia until the U.S. indicates its acceptance of Russia’s accession. The announcement from the Hague Conference is here.
New Bilateral Adoption Agreement for Russia and the US
After more than a year of negotiations, the United States and Russia signed a bilateral agreement to strengthen procedural safeguards in adoptions on July 13, 2011. The new framework “will largely eliminate independent adoptions from Russia” and will improve post-adoption reporting and monitoring. There was this announcement from the State Department which links to a series of