What attitude do the Maltese courts take towards the abducting parent in cases of parental abduction?

Abstract

This dissertation seeks to find the attitude of the Maltese courts with regards to the abducting parent in cases of parental abduction. Chapter 1 delves in Malta’s situation before the Hague Convention was implemented. It also tackles the creation of chapter 410 of Laws of Malta after Malta became a signatory of the Hague Convention. Parental abduction is tackled in chapter 2 by analysing each one of the exceptions of article 12 and article 13 of the Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Throughout such chapter, existing sources were analysed including dissertations, cases and articles. Chapter 3 focuses on methodology. It analyses thoroughly the black letter approach which was the method used for such dissertation. It delves into the strengths and weaknesses of such method and the reason why the author opted for this approach. Maltese case law is analysed specifically in chapter 4. References are made to various cases relating to parental abduction including those mentioned in chapter 2, which were decided by the Maltese courts in these last few years. It was established the pattern of the Maltese courts’ attitude towards the abducting parent by delving into the reasons that the courts issued for such decisions. Finally, concluding remarks are presented in Chapter 5 which are presented as an outline of this research, including any recommendations for future research which should be carried out for a better understanding of such topic.