Participants to this meeting were experts representing Morocco, France, USA, Australia, UK, India, Pakistan, Jordan, Germany, Switzerland, and the hosting country Canada, in collaboration with the Hague Conference on International Private Law. Morocco was represented by the General Inspector, Mr. Driss Idrissi Bichr.
Before dealing with the items of the agenda, the chair of the meeting commended Morocco’s adherence to the Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, enforceable as of 1 June 2010.
The object of the meeting was to study a draft of the principles to establish family mediation structures in cases of international child abduction and removal by one of the parents to a country other than the country of the child’s habitual residence. The meeting was an extension of the Malta Conferences held respectively in 2004 and 2006. The principles set out or implicit in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 are affirmed as a basis for action. In particular:
· the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration;
· a child whose parents reside in different States shall have his/her physical and psychological state safeguarded;
- States are obliged to take all measures to combat the illicit transfer and non-return of children abroad.
To implement family mediation, it was necessary to establish a central authority in each state to provide relevant information on the role of mediation, to set up a list of experts in family mediation and to locate a father, mother or child in the relevant state through competent legal procedures appropriate to each State.
Family mediation in international child abduction may enable the parties to avoid instituting legal proceedings, or paying legal expenses and will ease the burden of the court in dealing with similar cases. Additionally, it provides prompt efficient solutions to litigants and protects their rights.
For an efficient role of mediation, the mediators must set out a view on how to enforce the agreement. They must secure that the agreement is consistent with the laws of the State Addressed, regarding the right of custody and right of visitation and access.
For this reason, the Meeting called upon the relevant States to take all appropriate legislative and regulatory measures to make such agreements enforceable on their respective territories.
Discussions of the experts set the fundamental criteria to fulfil by the mediator, in particular:
- To have good negotiation skills and experience and be able to build trust between the parties;
- To have wide knowledge of international laws and relevant legal systems;
- To have abilities to convince;
- To ensure fairness, justice, equity and integrity;
- To be impartial;
- To be able to deal with different cultures;
- To be able to use the language or languages comfortable to the parties.
- To make the child’s best interests a primary consideration.
It should be noted that the Moroccan law provides for mediation to settle certain disputes amicably, but mediation as it is organised today is still conventional between the parties and is not limited to family disputes.
Morocco’s adherence to the Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction directs the Central Authority, which is the Ministry of Justice under the Convention, to takes all necessary legal and administrative measures to locate the abducted child and file the court for the prompt return of such child, provided that the Requesting State be a Convention State.