Evasive Manoeuvres: Strasbourg, the Hague Child Abduction Convention and the Absolute Prohibition on Ill-Treatment

Abstract

This article identifies a troubling omission on the part of the European Court of Human Rights, when it considers cases involving the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Such cases often involve one parent, who has abducted the child, alleging that their actions were necessary to protect themselves or the child from violence by the other parent. The Court has avoided considering arguments based on Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights in such cases, despite the now established relevance of that Article to the risks of family violence. A change of course is needed, in order to articulate clear principles for the ECtHR’s own Hague cases, and reinforce the absoluteness of Article 3 protection elsewhere.