Did the court system fail in this case?

[truebluemd]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? US/Japan

I cant believe this.. It happens too often.



American jailed in Japan for trying to reclaim his children - CNN.com

 

[proud_parent]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? US/Japan

I cant believe this.. It happens too often.



American jailed in Japan for trying to reclaim his children - CNN.com

I was posting at the same time.

My question in all this is, "Exactly what 'other legal options' [as stated by Mom's atty.] does the father in this case have?"

I'm NOT condoning Dad's decision to snatch the children off the street. But Japan is not a Hague signatory, he was already working with U.S. State Dept.... What legal remedy am I missing that he ought to have attempted?

 

[profmum]

Dad has done all he could, at best he could have hoped for some visitation with his kids in Japan.. but getting them back through the Japanease courts (which would amount to asking them to recognize US jurisdiction over this case) would be very unlikely to happen.

I have a friend in CA (Dad) in a very similar situation and bottom line event though Dad was granted full custody of the child in the US and there is an arrest warrant out for Mum (who fled to India), the Indian courts are allowing Dad to have some contact (phone calls, supervised visitation when Dad is in India) but are most likely not going to recognize US law and give sole custody to Mum.

The problem is cases like this make it harder for this of us who have extended family abroad to visit our families for this very same fear..

 

[Proserpina]

Dad has done all he could, at best he could have hoped for some visitation with his kids in Japan.. but getting them back through the Japanease courts (which would amount to asking them to recognize US jurisdiction over this case) would be very unlikely to happen.

I have a friend in CA (Dad) in a very similar situation and bottom line event though Dad was granted full custody of the child in the US and there is an arrest warrant out for Mum (who fled to India), the Indian courts are allowing Dad to have some contact (phone calls, supervised visitation when Dad is in India) but are most likely not going to recognize US law and give sole custody to Mum.

The problem is cases like this make it harder for this of us who have extended family abroad to visit our families for this very same fear..

If anyone has the time and/or inclination to search there was a thread relating to Japan and custody not so long ago -- I can't remember exactly when I responded but it might give a bit more insight to Japan and international custody problems.

 

[starting over]

If anyone has the time and/or inclination to search there was a thread relating to Japan and custody not so long ago -- I can't remember exactly when I responded but it might give a bit more insight to Japan and international custody problems.

Here it is
https://forum.freeadvice.com/child-custody-visitation-37/hello-new-york-480839.html

 

[Proserpina]

Here it is
https://forum.freeadvice.com/child-custody-visitation-37/hello-new-york-480839.html

Cool. Thank you.

 

[LdiJ]

I am bumping this back up because I have been reading some more on this case, and it may be that dad wouldn't be in any better position if Japan HAD been a signatory to the Hague Convention.

Apparently the couple was married for 14 years and resided in Japan. The dad is a naturalized Japanese citizen. Although no timeline has been given in the articles, it appears that they had only recently moved to the US, when he cheated on his wife and they got divorced. The children didn't even have US passports.

If they were here less than 2 years (and it sounds like that might be the case) then Japan would have had jurisdiction over any matters regarding the children, under the Hague Convention.

Therefore, the US courts would not have had the right to make child custody decisions if the Hague Convention had applied.

Also, Japan apparently doesn't recognize foreign divorces, therefore they are still legally married in Japan.

While I do still feel very sorry for this father, I am not certain that international law isn't served by the children living in Japan, since that is apparently where they have lived most of their life.

Certainly, if the children were raised in the US, and had only lived in Japan a short time before the couple divorced in Japan, we would be thinking that the father should be able to return the children to the country where they were raised.

Now, of course Japan's custody laws seem to leave something to be desired, but I think that dad would have been on the losing end of this even if the Hague Convention had applied.

 

[profmum]

I am bumping this back up because I have been reading some more on this case, and it may be that dad wouldn't be in any better position if Japan HAD been a signatory to the Hague Convention.

Apparently the couple was married for 14 years and resided in Japan. The dad is a naturalized Japanese citizen. Although no timeline has been given in the articles, it appears that they had only recently moved to the US, when he cheated on his wife and they got divorced. The children didn't even have US passports.

If they were here less than 2 years (and it sounds like that might be the case) then Japan would have had jurisdiction over any matters regarding the children, under the Hague Convention.

Therefore, the US courts would not have had the right to make child custody decisions if the Hague Convention had applied.

Also, Japan apparently doesn't recognize foreign divorces, therefore they are still legally married in Japan.

While I do still feel very sorry for this father, I am not certain that international law isn't served by the children living in Japan, since that is apparently where they have lived most of their life.

Certainly, if the children were raised in the US, and had only lived in Japan a short time before the couple divorced in Japan, we would be thinking that the father should be able to return the children to the country where they were raised.

Now, of course Japan's custody laws seem to leave something to be desired, but I think that dad would have been on the losing end of this even if the Hague Convention had applied.

Good point and yes the situation does not appear to be the typical "fleeing to the home country". Broadly speaking, in Asian countries, custody is rarely split between the parents and almost always goes to the mother. There are some instances of dad's getting some visitation but a 50-50 placement for example is rarely ordered.

 

[BL]

The man has been released .

American father in custody case released from Japanese jail - CNN.com