Towards the well-being of the Child through “The Hague Child Abduction and Protection of Children Conventions” – An Asia-Pacific Symposium

The opening ceremony of the 2-day “Towards the well-being of the Child through The Hague Child Abduction and Protection of Children Conventions – An Asia-Pacific Symposium” took place in the Convention Center of the Macao Science Center on 25 June 2015. The Symposium was an event co-organized once again by the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) Asia Pacific Regional Office, the Department of Justice of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Law Reform and International Law Bureau of the Macao Special Administrative Region, after the “Workshop on the 1993 Hague Intercountry Adoption Convention”, held in the Macao SAR in March 2013. The Secretary for Administrative and Justice of the Macao Special Administrative Region, Ms. Sónia Chan Hoi Fan, the Secretary for Justice of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr. Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung, the Director-General of the Department of International Organization & Legal Affairs of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Macao SAR, Mr. Li Zhen Hua, and the Secretary General of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, Mr. Christophe André BERNASCONI, attended the Symposium and delivered their speech at the opening ceremony. The Symposium has its themes on the 1980 Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and the 1996 Convention on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Co-operation in Respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children. Over 100 government representatives, magistrates, experts and scholars from 23 countries or regions in Europe, America, Asia Pacific region, Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR attended the Symposium to share their experience, exchange opinions in the implementation of the aforementioned conventions, and at the same time to investigate the complementarities between the two conventions and discuss how to enhance cooperation among countries in areas covered by the conventions through mediation, especially in relation to cooperation with non-contracting parties.