HI HCR174

Hawaii Legislature expresses support for Japan to ratify and join the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction, a 32-year-old treaty signed by 89 UN member states as of March 2013.

Japan remains the only G8 industrialized nation that has not adopted the treaty, which aims to protect children from wrongful removal or retention and ensure their prompt return to their country of habitual residence.

As of January 2011, the United States had 100 reported cases involving 140 U.S. children wrongfully abducted to Japan, with 10 new cases involving 12 children reported in 2012; an estimated 160,000 foreign parents separated from Japanese spouses lack legal access to their children.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe indicated willingness to join the treaty during a February 2013 meeting with President Barack Obama, and a bill calling for Japan's accession had been submitted to the Japanese Diet.

Certified copies of the resolution shall be transmitted to the U.S. Secretary of State, U.S. Attorney General, Japan's Ambassador and Foreign Minister, Japan's Honolulu Consulate General, Hawaii's Governor, and county/city mayors.