Inter-American Convention on the International Return of Children

The Inter-American Convention on the International Return of Children is a treaty of the Organization of American States and was adopted at Montevideo, Uruguay on July 15, 1989, at the Fourth Inter-American Specialized Conference On Private International Law. Its entry into force was November 4, 1994.^[1]

The convention begins by broadly describing its intent in Article 1:

The purpose of this Convention is to secure the prompt return of children habitually resident in one State Party who have been wrongfully removed from any State to a State Party or who, having been lawfully removed, have been wrongfully retained. This Convention further seeks to secure enforcement of visitation and custody rights of parties entitled to them.^[2]

Over half of the 35 member states of the Organisation of American States are party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, and over a third of the member states are also party to the Inter-American Convention on the International Return of Children. When a state is party to both conventions, Article 34 of the Inter-American Convention assigns priority to the Inter-American Convention over the Hague Abduction Convention unless otherwise agreed upon between the states individually.^[3]