The Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, done at The Hague on October 25, 1980 T.I.A.S. No. 11,670 (“Hague Abduction Convention”) establishes legal rights and procedures for the prompt return of children who have been wrongfully removed or retained. The International Child Abduction Remedies Act (“ICARA”) is the statute in the United States that implements the Hague Abduction Convention. 42 U.S.C. §§ 11601 - 11611. Under ICARA, a person may petition a court authorized to exercise jurisdiction in the country where a child is located for the return of the child to his or her habitual residence in another signatory country, so the underlying, substantive time-sharing (custody) dispute can be determined in the correct jurisdiction.

The Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, done at The Hague on October 25, 1980 T.I.A.S. No. 11,670 (“Hague Abduction Convention”) establishes legal rights and procedures for the prompt return of children who have been wrongfully removed or retained. The International Child Abduction Remedies Act (“ICARA”) is the statute in the United States that implements the Hague Abduction Convention. 42 U.S.C. §§ 11601 - 11611. Under ICARA, a person may petition a court authorized to exercise jurisdiction in the country where a child is located for the return of the child to his or her habitual residence in another signatory country, so the underlying, substantive time-sharing (custody) dispute can be determined in the correct jurisdiction.

The Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, done at The Hague on October 25, 1980 T.I.A.S. No. 11,670 (“Hague Abduction Convention”) establishes legal rights and procedures for the prompt return of children who have been wrongfully removed or retained. The International Child Abduction Remedies Act (“ICARA”) is the statute in the United States that implements the Hague Abduction Convention. 42 U.S.C. §§ 11601 - 11611. Under ICARA, a person may petition a court authorized to exercise jurisdiction in the country where a child is located for the return of the child to his or her habitual residence in another signatory country, so the underlying, substantive time-sharing (custody) dispute can be determined in the correct jurisdiction.

The International Child Abduction Remedies Act (“ICARA”) implements the Hague Abduction Convention in the United States. 42 U.S.C. §§ 11601 – 11611. Under ICARA, a person may petition a court authorized to exercise jurisdiction in the country where a child is located for the child’s return to his or her habitual residence in another signatory country, so that the underlying, substantive time-sharing (custody) dispute can be determined in the correct jurisdiction.

The district court’s role is not to make traditional custody decisions but to determine in what jurisdiction the children should be physically located so that the proper jurisdiction can make those custody decisions. Loos v. Manuel, 651 A.2d 1077, 1079 (N.J. Super. Ct. Ch. Div. 1994). [3] The International Child Abduction Remedies Act (“ICARA”) is the United States’ implementing legislation for the Hague Convention. 42 U.S.C. § 11601 et seq. (1988). ICARA establishes the Hague Convention as the law of the United States and details how the treaty will be enforced.