COLOMBIAN MFA TRAINS JUDGES AND LAWYERS ON HAGUE CHILD

UNCLAS BOGOTA 007767 SIPDIS FOR CA/OCS/ACS, CA/OCS/CI, CA/VO, WHA/AND SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: CASC CVIS CJAN PREL CO SUBJECT: COLOMBIAN MFA TRAINS JUDGES AND LAWYERS ON HAGUE CHILD ABDUCTION CONVENTION ¶1. Summary: The Colombian MFA hosted a September 13 seminar for judges, lawyers and child welfare workers on the Hague Convention on child abduction. The seminar was the second MFA-hosted conference on the Convention this year, and, along with two recent lower-court decisions ordering the return of children to the United States, suggests that Colombia may have turned a corner in its compliance with the convention. End summary. ¶2. On September 13, 2007, the MFA hosted a group of family judges and lawyers, as well as child welfare officials, at a seminar entitled "The Hague Conference on International Private Law." While the conference touched on several Hague agreements, it focused almost entirely on implementation of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Parental Child Abduction. An Embassy conoff also attended. ¶3. Ignacio Goicoechea, the Latin American liaison for the Hague Conference, traveled to Bogota to participate in the seminar. He told attendees that Latin American countries had made significant progress in implementing the Convention, while noting that some problems still remained common in the region, such as judges who cause delays by wrongly delving into custody issues. With a few notable exceptions, he stressed, the Convention strives to immediately return wrongfully taken or retained children to their country of habitual residence. He urged the attendees to have confidence in the ability of fellow contracting states to determine custody issues fairly after a child's return. Attendees appeared to appreciate Mr. Goicoechea's comments and listened intently during his presentation. ¶4. Janeth Aleman of the Colombian Child Welfare Institute, the Colombian central authority for the Convention, also addressed the seminar. Aside from processing Hague cases, her office trains judges, lawyers, and other GOC participants on the Convention. She lamented the lack of resources in her office, and described the difficulty of locating court-appointed lawyers for indigent parents in Hague cases. She said they may begin to recruit retired government lawyers for this purpose. ¶5. The MFA also hosted a training event in April 2007, which delivered a similar message. Such educational seminars, along with lower-court decisions in two recent cases that ordered the return of children to the United States, suggest Colombia's progression toward full compliance with the Hague Convention. BROWNFIELD