The Problem of Parental Relocation: Closingthe Loophole in the Law of InternationalChild Abduction

I. IntroductionOn September 28, 2009, thirty-eight year old Christopher Savoie made national news when he was arrested for child abduction just outside the U.S. Consulate in Fukuoka, Japan.1 Savoie, a Tennessee resident and native, was charged with kidnapping for re-abducting his two children after his ex- wife detained the children in Japan in violation of a U.S. custody order.2While Savoie' s actions were certainly extreme, his desperation was not unwarranted.3 As the U.S. Department of State website on International Child Abduction explains, "[t]he Department of State is not aware of any case in which a child taken from the United States by one parent has been ordered returned to the United States by Japanese courts, even when the left-behind parent has a United States custody decree."4 Not only did Savoie, who had been granted full custody of the children in U.S. court, have little hope of enforcing his custodial rights in Japanese court, it was unlikely that he would be granted visitation even within Japan's borders.5Japan's philosophy of child custody after divorce is a far cry from the general American policy favoring continued contact between the child and both parents whenever possible.6 In Japan, the emphasis following a divorce is on a "clean break" for all parties involved.7 In over ninety percent of cases, this means that the divorced father must make a lifelong break not only from his former wife, but also from his children.8Six months prior to his arrest, Savoie asked a Tennessee court to prevent the children from going to Japan for the summer.9 The children's mother had repeatedly threatened to cut Savoie off from his children by taking them to Japan, and Savoie was concerned that they would not return.10 The court ruled in favor of the mother, and released the children's passports to her to use solely for what was supposed to be a summer vacation.11 The court justified its decision by insisting that the risk of losing alimony and child support if she absconded with the children would be sufficient to ensure compliance with the court's order.12 Savoie discovered that the children were missing when the children's school called to report their absence on the first day of classes.13 Panicked, he contacted his ex-wife's parents, who confirmed his worst fear: The children were with their mother in Japan and would not be returning.14While the situation in Japan is illustrative, Japan is not the only destination country from which a parent would have great difficulty recovering a child who had been abducted.15 A 2001 survey conducted by the American Bar Association found that children abducted by their parents were taken to a wide variety of countries.16 The ninety-seven parents who participated in the survey had missing children known or suspected to be in forty-six different countries. Approximately one-third of the reported countries were in Latin America; an additional one-fourth were Muslim countries.17 While the relatively small sample size of the study makes it difficult to draw conclusions based on these numbers, it is nonetheless clear that Japan is not the only safe haven for abductors.18The question of whether to permit one parent to relocate with a child internationally over the other parent's objection is a difficult one, regardless of whether the issue is a temporary summer stay or a permanent move.19 Although courts have considered the problem of interstate relocation at length, less has been written on the topic of international moves. Clearly, international relocation presents unique concerns that do not arise even in a cross-country move.20 Because the reach of an American court does not extend within the borders of a foreign country,21 an international relocation presents a risk that the moving parent will violate the custody order and attempt to block the other parent's access to the child.22 Thus, the problems of international relocation and international child abduction23 are often interrelated. …