International child abduction and non-Hague Convention countries

For a variety of reasons, non-Hague countries have resisted significant international pressure to adopt the 1980 Hague Convention. Some, like India, have made an affirmative decision not to accede, while others may be concerned about a potential interference with their sovereignty, disturbance with their cultural or religious norms, have more pressing problems to address, or see no benefit to doing so. The chapter discusses the great variety of bilateral agreements that have been entered into between specific countries, but concludes that these have generally been ineffective. The Malta Process is intended to promote dialogue and cooperation between Hague countries and non-Hague countries whose legal systems are based upon, or influenced by, Islamic (Sharia) law. It is usually extremely challenging, and often impossible, to recover children abducted to non-Hague countries. The chapter recommends several strategies to prevent children’s abduction to non-Hague countries or to try to recover them if they are.