Child Abduction Caused by Domestic Violence: How Private International Law Makes the Best of both the Child Abduction Convention/Brussels II-ter Regulation and the Istanbul Convention

The paper addresses international child abduction resulting from domestic violence perpetrated by the left-behind parent against the abducting parent. It emphasizes the importance of safeguarding the child from the adverse effects of abduction while also protecting the domestic violence victim from further abuse. To achieve this, it proposes a gender violence-sensitive interpretation of the grave risk exception of Article 13(1)(b) of the Hague Child Abduction Convention (as complemented by the Brussels II-ter Regulation within the EU). This interpretation is grounded on a reading of the Hague Convention in light of the Istanbul Convention, relevant customary international law, and the subsequent practice of some Contracting States to the Hague Convention that aims to provide adequate protection to domestic violence victims during return proceedings. The same result is ensured, for the Brussels II-ter Regulation, by the prevalence of the Istanbul Convention over EU secondary law. Further-more, the paper illustrates how private international law reconciles the Istanbul Convention with the Hague Convention/Brussels II-ter Regulation, allowing the gender violence-sensitive interpretation of the grave risk exception to be applied without infringing the Hague Convention.