Child Abduction

• Author: International Law Group

Perry March is an American citizen who moved to Mexico with his two children after the disappearance of his wife in 1996. The maternal grandparents of the two children (the Levines) obtained court- ordered visitation with the children in Jalisco, Mexico. The grandparents visited the children and later took them back to the United States where they stayed beyond the court-ordered visitation period.

March went to federal court to obtain the return of his children under the International Child Abduction Remedies Act (hereinafter ICARA), which codifies the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction [October 25, 1980, T.I.A.S. No. 11,670, 1343 U.N.T.S. 89], Art. 3, 12.

Pursuant to ICARA, the custodial guardian has the burden of showing that the child or children in question was "¼[w]rongfully removed or retained in breach of his custody rights under the laws of the contracting state in which the children habitually resided before they were removed or retained." The Court noted however, that a court is not bound to return the children in question to the custodial guardian, if the defendants can show, pursuant to the Convention, that their return would bring a grave risk of harm to them.

To show the existence of that risk, the grandparents alleged that March had murdered his wife. The Court noted, however, that the authorities had not charged March with any crime and that there was no evidence that anyone had murdered his wife. Holding that March had proven wrongful retention, the Court gave March summary judgment, ordering the Levines immediately to return the children to their father in Mexico.

The Levines appealed. They argued that the court erred (1) by declining to disentitle March from filing his petition in light of various state court contempt orders entered against him; (2) by refusing to allow discovery on the merits prior to issuing a ruling; and (3) by giving summary judgment to March. March filed a cross-appeal contending that the lower court had mistakenly failed to address his argument that the Levine's lacked standing to assert any defenses.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the...