Britain to press Japan on foreign fathers' rights to access children

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LONDON, Oct. 16 Kyodo -
London is to put fresh pressure on Tokyo to improve the rights of its nationals
seeking access to their children living in Japan with estranged partners.
Britain is trying to assist its citizens who are either seeking the return of
their kids to the United Kingdom, or are denied access to their children by the
Japanese civil courts.
The Foreign Office in London believes Japanese courts presiding in custody
cases could be breaching obligations under the U.N. Convention on the Rights of
the Child.
In Japan, courts will generally side with the Japanese parent and order the
children remain in their care in Japan.
Critics argue that, due to cultural reasons, Japanese courts will always grant
custody to the mother in separation battles, and the idea of joint custody --
more common in Europe -- is an anathema. Even if a court grants limited
visiting rights for the father, they are not enforceable.
Shane Clarke, a father trying to gain access to his two daughters in Japan,
recently received an e-mail from Helen Paige, a child abduction caseworker at
the Foreign Office.
In the Oct. 12 message, she states, ''We will ask the British ambassador in
Japan to raise with the Japanese government the obligations of states to
develop and undertake all actions and policies in the best interests of the
child, referring in particular to article 10.2.''
This article asserts that a ''child whose parents reside in different countries
shall have the right to maintain on a regular basis ... personal relations and
direct contacts with both parents.''
Paige said the British government is willing to raise cases with Tokyo and cite
the convention if an individual has gone through the legal process and remains
dissatisfied.
Clarke told Kyodo News he is happy that Britain has ''acknowledged'' the
convention and that ''it applies to these situations.''
While it is claimed that Japanese society accepts that mothers must be given
priority in custody battles, many foreigners who married Japanese women find
the position intolerable.
And the growing number of mixed marriages, and subsequent separations and
divorces, has meant the issue is being put on the international agenda.
Despite Britain's attempts to force Japan to honor its convention obligations,
officials readily admit there is no method of ''international enforcement'' if
it is judged that a Japanese court has failed to heed the convention's
strictures. Clarke disputes this point, claiming the International Court of
Justice could provide this role.
However, the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child
Abduction, which Britain has been pressing Japan to adopt, does provide an
enforcement mechanism.
This convention requires that if a child has been taken by one parent to
another country following an estrangement, the child must be returned to the
country where he or she is ''habitually resident.''
It also seeks to standardize laws and ensure custody decisions can be made by
appropriate courts and protect the access rights of both parents.
Many Japanese women have returned to their home country realizing that it
offers a safe haven from any court orders arising in other countries.
Clarke's Japanese wife returned to Japan with their two daughters after a
four-year marriage in Britain. The British courts have ordered that the
children should be returned to Britain where they are ''habitually resident''
but this is not recognized in Japan, according to Clarke.
Britain, along with the United States, is pressing Japan to sign the Hague
convention. In correspondence with Clarke, Britain's Ambassador David Warren
has said he is ''concerned'' about the number of ''abductions'' and is hoping
to hold meetings with the new government on the issue.
Japan is currently investigating whether to sign the Hague convention. There
are fears it could make it harder for Japanese women to flee abusive
relationships in one country and return with their children to Japan. The
government denies Japanese courts are ''institutionally racist'' against
foreign fathers.
Many foreign fathers feel Japan's position is particularly ''hypocritical,''
given the fact that it has been continually pleading for the return of Japanese
nationals abducted to North Korea.
This issue has been thrust into the spotlight recently with the arrest in
Fukuoka of Christopher Savoie, a 38-year-old American, after he snatched his
children from his Japanese ex-wife as they walked to school.
His wife took their two children to Japan in August from their home in
Tennessee. In his wife's absence, the U.S. courts gave Christopher Savoie full
custody and issued an arrest warrant for his wife. Before his wife left, Savoie
had tried to obtain court orders which prevented her from leaving the country.
Local prosecutors released Savoie on Thursday, saying they decided it was
unnecessary to detain him and will consider carefully what action to take
regarding his case.
==Kyodo
2009-10-16 22:59:09