The hague conventions on international child abduction and inter country adoptions: Should Zambia be a party?

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the laws that are in place in Zambia to secure the return of children that are abducted and taken outside the country. The research was carried out using both desk and field research. The desk research comprised of collection of secondary data in the form of books, journals, dissertations and the internet and primary data from Law reports and statutes. The field research consisted of open ended interviews with key stake holders.The research was aimed at establishing whether there are laws in Zambia that can be used to secure the return of abducted children and whether these laws are effective. The research also looked at the use of the Hague Conventions and how effective the Conventions are in securing the return of abducted children and finally the research answered the question whether Zambia should be a party to the Conventions. Through research, it was found that there is no specific legislation that governs the return of children that are abducted. The adoption procedure was viewed to be one of the instances that open children to the harm of abduction and that there is no legislation that can be used to return children that are removed from country under the guise of adoption. The Hague Conventions were viewed to be the most effective methods of having abducted children returned. It was finally concluded that there is need for Zambia to consider being a party to the Conventions so as to ensure that children that are abducted are returned promptly or in the alternative there is need to amend the Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act so that it permits the registration of foreign judgments that pertain to guardianship of an infant.