Barnets bästa vid olovliga bortföranden av barn - med särskilt fokus på olovliga bortföranden inom EU

Sammanfattning

The rules governing civil aspects of the unlawful abduction of children under the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction are not fully compatible with the rights deriving from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Despite the child's central role in an unlawful abduc-tion or detention, a dilemma arises when the 1980 Hague Convention is to be applied. The 1980 Hague Convention focuses less on the best interests of the in-dividual child and more on protecting children in general from being wrongfully abducted. The question that arises is whether the best interests of the child are then regularly taken into account, as stipulated by the Childrens’ Convention. In order to strengthen the application of the Hague Convention between EU countries, the Brussels II regulation was adopted in the early 2000s and on August 1st of this year a new and revised version – the 2019 Brussels II regulation – entered into force. This thesis aims to account for the frameworks on unlawful abduction and detention of children in international conditions that have developed over the past 40 years and show how the rights of the child are considered in these processes. My conclusion is that the changes introduced in the 2019 Brussels II Regulation complement the 1980 Hague Convention better than the 2003 Brussels II Regula-tion, and they are also more in line with the Children’s Convention. The child's legal status is confirmed as a legal entity in the unlawful abduction proceedings, thereby ensuring that the rights of the child are better served in these processes.