What to do if your child has been taken abroad without your consent whilst you are in Zimbabwe?

Glenn Turner once said, ‘worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere.’ Where your child has been taken abroad by your partner or spouse without your consent, the first thing you should do is to take legal advice immediately.

Zimbabwe is a Contracting State to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (the Convention) which was designed to facilitate the swift return of abducted children from their place of habitual residence immediately before the abduction occurred.

In terms of the Convention, if a child under the age of 16 years of age is abducted from one Hague Convention country to another, the innocent partner or parent can seek an order for his or her return in terms of the Convention. The burden of proof that a child was wrongfully removed or retained rests on the applicant. Secretary of Justice v Parker 1999 (2) ZLR 400 (H).

The wrongful removal or retention of a child occurs where for instance:

• (a) the parties are married at the date of the child’s removal and the law provides for joint custody in the parties;
• (b) the parties are divorced and there is a custody order in favour of the applicant;
• (c) the parties are unmarried and the father had a custody order in his favour;
• (d) the parties are on separation and the child is taken abroad without any intention of returning
• (e) the applicant had agreed to the removal of the child from Zimbabwe for a set period of time and the child is not returned after the elapse of this period.

It would be useful when seeking legal advice in international child abduction cases to also have the following information at hand

• (a) Information concerning the identity of the applicant, of the child and of the person alleged to have removed or retained the child;
• (b) Where available, the date of birth of the child;
• (c) The grounds on which the applicant’s claim for return of the child is based;
• (d) All available information relating to the whereabouts of the child and the identity of the person with whom the child is presumed to be.