On 28 May 1970, in The Hague, the Council of Europe opens for signature the European Convention on the Repatriation of Minors — the instrument allowing a state to request return of minors present in another party.

Repatriation may be sought if the minor’s presence is against the guardian’s will, incompatible with a protection/re-education measure, or needed for protection proceedings in the requesting state.

Initial signatories: Austria, Belgium, France, West Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands; later Italy, Turkey, Greece and Malta. It entered into force only on 28 July 2015 after the third ratification (Malta).

The small number of parties (three) shows that many states prefer bilateral mechanisms or the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Still, the text remains a CoE instrument for cooperation on cross-border protection of minors.

The official text appears in the Council of Europe Treaty Series (ETS).

The Hague Convention of 28 May 1970 remains the CoE framework for repatriating minors between parties.

Image: The Hague; Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: European Convention on the Repatriation of Minors. Treaty text: European Convention on the Repatriation of Minors (CoE ETS 071).