Federal Coalition wants to review The Hague Convention

Family Law: 19 August 2022

Coalition MP Julian Leeser is calling on the government to review The Hague Convention, a law that is frequently used to force mothers fleeing domestic violence to return children to their abuser.

The Federal Coalition is calling on the government to review The Hague Convention, a law that is frequently used to force mothers fleeing domestic violence to return children to their abuser.

The Legal Affairs Spokesperson for the Coalition, Julian Leeser has called on the Federal Government to urgently review this part of the law.

"The 1994 Australian Law Reform Commission report €¦ recommended domestic violence be better taken into account in Hague Convention cases,Mr Leeser said.

"Since that time, we have seen the courts place inadequate weight on evidence of domestic and family violence with catastrophic result, and some judges have criticised the current state of the law."

In one case, 24-year-old Eng­lishwoman Cassandra Hasan­ovic fled to Australia with her two sons to escape her estranged husband but was ordered by Australian courts to return her children to Britain after her ­husband invoked The Hague Convention. She flew back to Britain with her sons and was soon after stabbed to death by their father.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/coalition-seeking-review-of-hague-law/news-story/ae98766f2859d3f729ac497abbb3956c?btr=efb5abc93e7cb0f7300465c3cbd17e53

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