If your child has been taken to Slovenia without your consent, or is being unlawfully retained in Slovenia, our experienced international child abduction lawyers in Slovenia can help you. We specialize in handling Hague Convention return proceedings and offer legal support to parents from abroad seeking to recover their children under international law.
In today’s world, international families, where each parent is from a different country, are very common. In most cases, children benefit from a multilingual and multicultural environment, but the downside of an international family can be a more complicated post-divorce relationship. A lot of people are able to solve their disputes relating to divorce and child custody amicably, but unfortunately some people take matters into their own hands and unilaterally decide to move to their home country with the joint child or children. The decision can be fueled by the fact that they want their own domestic court to decide on the divorce / custody issues, or the fact that they simply want to live in their home country where their family and friends are. Such a unilateral act can cause a lot of stress and problems for the other parent, who did not consent for the child / children to move to another country.
Fortunately, most countries are parties to the Hague convention on the civil aspects of international child abduction (1980). This convention can (with the help of a good family law lawyer) help you get your children, that have been unlawfully removed or retained, back to your home country (the country where they were residing before the unlawful removal or retention took place). We highly advise that a legal professional helps you in this process. If your child has been taken to Slovenia or is being retained in Slovenia, we advise you to contact a Slovenian lawyer for family law. Our law firm has represented multiple clients in such cases, so we are confident we would be able to provide you with first grade legal assistance.
This article is intended to clarify some aspects pertaining to child abduction cases, and explain how our law firm from Ljubljana, Slovenia, can help you navigate this process.
The first and most important condition to be able to use the Hague Convention is, that both countries – the country where the child has been taken from and the country where the child has been taken to – are parties to the Hague convention. If you’re curious whether your country is a party to the Hague convention on international child abduction, you can check the official HCCH website, found on this link: https://www.hcch.net/en/states/hcch-members. Slovenia has been a member of the convention since 1992.
The purpose of the Hague convention is to secure the prompt return of children wrongfully removed to or retained in any contracting State, and to ensure that rights of custody and of access under the law of one contracting state are effectively respected in the other contracting states. In effect, the purpose of the convention is, that if a parent unlawfully removes or retains a child in another country, that country will order the parent to return the child to their place of residence. The procedure must be quick an effective, so that the child is swiftly returned to his or her home. The idea is, that the parents then handle all the legal disputes in the country of residence of the child (because the courts in that country had jurisdiction before the unlawful removal happened).
In essence, two different situations can fall under the use of the convention – removal and retention. Removal means that a child is removed from their country of residence without the other parent’s consent. Retention means that the initial removal from the country was not illegal (i.e. the other parent consented to this), but the parent later retained the child in this country beyond the parent’s consent. A typical case of unlawful retention is, when a parent goes on holiday with the child. The other parent consents with going on holiday for a specific period of time and of course expects that the child will be returned to the home country when the holiday has ended. A typical case of retention takes place if the parent then decides not to return from said holiday with the child but unilaterally decides to remain in that country (typically, but not exclusively, this is the parent’s country of origin). This is then considered unlawful retention and also falls under the use of the Hague convention.
The next question that is posed is when the removal or the retention of a child is to be considered wrongful. It is considered to be wrongful, where (i) it is in breach of rights of custody attributed to a person, an institution or any other body, either jointly or alone, under the law of the state in which the child was habitually resident immediately before the removal or retention; and (ii) at the time of removal or retention those rights were actually exercised, either jointly or alone, or would have been so exercised but for the removal or retention.
If your situation falls under the described definition (or you think it might), then we advise you to seek legal counsel and contact a lawyer, who handles international child abduction cases. If you are looking for an international child abduction lawyer in Slovenia, our law firm would gladly provide you with assistance.
First of all, you should immediately seek legal help. Hague convention cases are subject to certain deadlines, which should not be missed. Your international child abduction lawyer in Slovenia will make sure that no deadlines are missed, so the case has all the formal prerequisites to be heard. Additionally, they will be able to counsel you on the appropriate next steps, what documents you need to gather for evidence, etc.
The Hague convention procedure can be filled with the central authority or directly with the competent court. If you opt for the central authority, you can either file the request in the country of origin (in this case, the central authority in this country will forward the request to the central authority in the country where your child has been taken or is being retained), or directly in the country where your child is located. We always advise our clients to go directly to the relevant authorities in the country where the child has been taken to, as the courts in this country have jurisdiction to order the return, and the process will be handled quicker this way. The request can either be filed with the central authority or the competent court (if your child is in Slovenia, then the district court will have jurisdiction). In our experience, the procedure is the quickest if the proposal is filed directly with the court.
This next part only explains the procedure in Slovenia, as we can’t say what the legal procedure in other contracting states is. We’re focusing on the case where the proposal is filed directly with the court and not with the central authority, where some additional steps may apply. Once the proposal to return the abducted child is filed with the court, the court will send the proposal to the opposing party, which will have 8 days to file a response and put forward their evidence. A court hearing, where both parents will be questioned, will be scheduled in a short time frame. Both parties have to attend and testify before the court. Then the court will issue a decision, that again must be reached in a short amount of time.
After the court has issued its decision, both parties have the right to appeal. If an appeal is filed, the opposite party has the right to answer the appeal before the court decides on it. Once the appellate court decides on the appeal (it either upholds or rejects the appeal), the decision is final, and the procedure is concluded. If the court has ordered the other parent to return the child to his or her home country, then the parent is obliged to do so. If the parent fails to do so, an enforcement order can be filed.
As already mentioned, the Hague convention procedure has certain deadlines, that need to be adhered to, to ensure your success in the process. We therefore advise you to seek legal help as soon as you suspect or have reason to believe, that the other parent might retain the child in another country or as soon as you are made aware, that the child has been unlawfully taken to another country. Once you’ve obtained legal help, you will be aware of your rights in the proceedings and of the legal situation, which will help you decide on the next steps. Legal advice at an early stage is also important to avoid doing something that could harm you later in the proceedings.
We strongly advise you not to bring proceedings under the Hague Convention on your own, or to try to do so without legal representation. It is a relatively complex procedure, and you will definitely be better placed if you have legal assistance. We therefore suggest, that if you are faced with a situation that may fall under the Hague Convention, you contact a family law lawyer immediately and that you continue to be represented by a lawyer during the proceedings.
Our law firm, located in Ljubljana, Slovenia, is happy to answer any questions you may have on this topic. You can arrange an online meeting with our lawyers or get initial legal advice by email.
FAQ About the Hague Convention and Child Abduction in Slovenia
You need to file a petition to return your child from Slovenia, to the country of origin. You can either do this with the central authority or the competent court in Slovenia. We advise that you seek legal help from a lawyer, specializing in international child abduction cases, who will be able to provide you with more information about this.
Firstly, it is very important, that you make it clear to the other parent, that they do not have your consent to the act (moving the child to Slovenia or retaining the child in Slovenia). If you at first do not agree, but later give your consent, then this can be an obstacle to your success in the Hague convention procedure. Secondly, it is important you seek legal help and get all the information on the next steps.
Yes. Slovenia has been a member of the Hague convention since 1992. This means that you can lodge a procedure under the Hague convention if your child has been unlawfully removed or is being retained in Slovenia.
The procedure is governed by the procedural rules, that are the “quickest“ possible (under the rules for interim injunctions). However, the whole procedure still takes up to a few months to get to the first instance court judgement.
Return of children under the Hague Convention can be tricky, so we strongly recommend that you have a lawyer on your side for the whole process – from lodging the request, to the final judgement. It is important that you find a child abduction lawyer in Slovenia as soon as possible after the unlawful retention / removal.
Yes. It is often the case that the parent, who is committing the unlawful retention or removal, takes the child to their home country – in this case Slovenia. This means that the applicant is usually (not always) a foreign citizen, while the respondent is a Slovenian citizen. It is therefore crucial that you find legal help for foreign parents in Slovenia – mainly a lawyer, who has experience with such international abduction cases and has no difficulty with conversing in English and other foreign languages.