HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	174
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2013
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

Expressing the hawaii state legislature's Support of Japan's Efforts to Address the issue of international child abduction in japan.

     WHEREAS, Japan has not ratified the Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Hague Convention); and

     WHEREAS, according to the Hague Convention, the purpose of the treaty is to ". . . protect children internationally from the harmful effects of their wrongful removal or retention and to establish procedures to ensure their prompt return to the State of their habitual residence, as well as to secure protection for rights of access . . ."; and

     WHEREAS, member states of the Treaty agree to restore wrongfully removed children to their pre-abduction status quo, which is done by returning abducted children to their country of habitual residence to resolve any custody disputes; and

     WHEREAS, Japan is the only member of the G8 industrialized nations, which also includes the United States, France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Russia, and Canada, that has not adopted the 32 year old Treaty, which, as of March 2013, has been signed by 89 other United Nations member states; and

     WHEREAS, over the past several decades, international marriage rates have been climbing and currently there are over 30,000 marriages registered a year between Japanese nationals and foreigners; and  

     WHEREAS, according to some estimates, there are over 160,000 foreign parents who are separated or divorced from their Japanese spouses and are unable to gain legal access to or contact their children living in Japan; and

     WHEREAS, as of January 2011, the United States has 100 ongoing reported cases involving 140 United States children being wrongfully abducted to Japan, which does not include the large number of child abduction cases that go unreported; and

     WHEREAS, in 2012, the United States State Department reported 10 new cases involving 12 United States children that have been wrongfully abducted to Japan; and

     WHEREAS, there are no laws that compel the Japanese government to return children who have been wrongfully abducted by their Japanese parent; and

     WHEREAS, foreign parents who choose to fight for legal custody and access to their abducted children must do so in the Japanese court system, and as of March 2013, the United States State Department reports that there is no record of cases that have been resolved successfully through favorable Japanese court orders; and

     WHEREAS, Japan and the State of Hawaii share an intimate historical, social, cultural, economic, and political relationship, and according to the Consulate General of Japan at Honolulu, as of October 1, 2011, there are 18,529 Japanese nationals living in Hawaii; and

     WHEREAS, in the February 2013 meeting between Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Abe indicated Japan's willingness to join the Treaty; and

     WHEREAS, currently, a bill calling for Japan to join the Treaty has been submitted to the Japanese Diet for consideration; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2013, the Senate concurring, that the Legislature expresses its support for Japan's efforts to address international child abduction in Japan through joining the Treaty and supports Japan's ascension to the Treaty; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature supports the recent efforts taken by the Japanese government to ratify the Treaty; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature affirms that as a State it does not condone international child abduction and will work to raise awareness regarding the wrongful abduction and retention of international children in Japan; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the United States Secretary of State, United States Attorney General, Japan's Ambassador to the United States, Japan's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Consulate General of Japan in Honolulu, Governor of the State of Hawaii, and the Mayors of the Counties of Kauai, Hawaii, and Maui, and the City and County of Honolulu.

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title: 

Expressing support for Japan's ascension to the Hague Convention.