§9113 Bilateral Procedures, Including Memoranda of Understanding

Summary

Within 180 days after August 8, 2014, the Secretary of State must begin making bilateral procedures and memoranda of understanding with countries that probably will not join the Hague Abduction Convention soon, or with Convention countries that have unresolved abductions that happened before the Convention took effect for the United States or that country. The Secretary must give priority to countries with many serious abduction cases. These agreements should say who the Central Authority is (the office that handles cases), which court or agency will quickly decide abduction and access disputes, which law enforcement agencies will help, and how to enforce a return order, including locating the child, protecting the child, and arranging the child’s return. They must include a plan to return an abducted child within 6 weeks after the case is filed with the local authority, a plan to protect interim contact rights while the case is pending, and a plan for regular visits by a U.S. embassy or consular official to check the child’s location and welfare.