Opening Remarks
Ernie Allen
President & Chief Executive Officer
International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
International Judicial Conference on Cross-Border Family
Relocation
March 23, 2010
In his “State of the Union” address in 1998, former U.S.
President Bill Clinton said, “Quietly, but with gathering force,
the ground has shifted beneath our feet as we have moved into an Information
Age, a global economy, a truly new world."
He was right. Our world has changed in fundamental ways, some positive,
some not. The world has shrunk. The concept of global
neighborhood is not as far-fetched as it once seemed.
In many areas this era of easy global travel and communications has
presented endless possibilities and opportunities. In the area
of family law, it has also created some seemingly unsolvable challenges. Over
the next three days, we will grapple with an increasing phenomenon in
which a custodial parent seeks to relocate with his or her child to another
city, another country, even to the other side of the world.
For judges, this presents a Solomon-like dilemma. If you approve
it, you effectively deny reasonable access for the left-behind parent
to his or her child. If you don’t approve it, you effectively
deny what might have been a life-changing opportunity for the other parent
and the child. This is a human challenge of the highest order,
but it is also a daunting legal challenge, one that may be handled very
differently depending on what judge in what court in what country actually
handles the case.
We at the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children
are pleased to have the opportunity to join with our friends at the Hague
Conference on Private International Law and the U.S. State Department
in hosting this important international judicial conference. We
are honored and deeply grateful that so many judges, scholars and experts
from around the world would take the time to participate in the discussions
of the next three days. We look forward to your conclusions and
recommendations, and to assisting in the effort to put them into practice
around the world.
The International Centre is working tirelessly to address this and other
challenges in law and policy. In partnership with Interpol and
Microsoft, we have trained police in 114 countries in the investigation
of computer-facilitated crimes against children. We are implementing
new technology tools for law enforcement in many countries.
We have created a global missing children’s network, now linking
17 countries. We are working with parliamentary leaders to enact
new laws regarding child sexual exploitation and child pornography. We
are helping to set up new centers addressing the problems of child abduction
and sexual exploitation in many countries.
Through our new Koons Family Institute on International Law and Policy,
we are attempting to create a kind of Brookings Institution for children,
undertaking policy-related research and analysis in fields related to
child abduction and exploitation. Our goal is to build greater
knowledge, awareness and understanding for policy makers and the general
public on a range of difficult issues relating to children. Today,
the Koons Institute is a reality thanks to the kindness of world-renowned
artist, Jeff Koons, himself a victim parent, whose child was abducted
and taken internationally.
I am particularly proud of the long-standing partnership between the
International Centre and the Hague Conference, with whom we are collaborating
on this conference. We will work together to spread the word to
the entire international community.
One year ago, some of you were with us in Cairo as the International
Centre convened a forum, chaired by Her Excellency Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak,
the First Lady of the Arab Republic of Egypt. The forum examined
several pressing issues facing the world’s children. Two
of those who addressed that conference are with us today: Hague
Deputy Secretary General William Duncan and the Deputy Chief Justice
of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt, Adel Omar Sherif. At
the close of the session, the attendees adopted what was called, “The
Cairo Declaration.” One of the key provisions read as follows:
“Family disputes can have a devastating impact on children. Parents
have the responsibility to shield their children from the negative effects
of family discord. Children must not be used as proxies for battles
between parents, and both mothers and fathers should seek to mediate
peacefully disagreements about their children’s futures.”
The Cairo Declaration urged global leaders to “explore bilateral
and multilateral approaches to resolving family disputes, including mediation,
in order to ensure that the children are not the victims.”
As judges, central authorities and practitioners in the field know all
too well, there are no easy answers and sometimes no completely fair
answers in cases of child relocation, particularly internationally.
Our hope and conviction is that we will seize the opportunity presented
by these next three days, and that this will be more than a conference. It
will be an opportunity to share experiences and insights, learn from
each other and generate real solutions. We look forward to your
findings, conclusions and recommendations. We are committed to
work with you to bring greater consistency, uniformity and humanity as
we address these complex, difficult situations worldwide.
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