“Habitual Residence” in a Non-Hague Canadian International Child Custody Case

Blog by Jeremy D. Morley The Supreme Court of Canada has relied in part on my opinions concerning child custody cases in non-Hague Abduction Convention countries in interpreting the term “habitual residence” in Section 22 of the Ontario Children’s Law Reform Act. Dunmore v. Mehralian, 2025 SCC 20. The statute provides that the Ontario courts have child custody jurisdiction over […]

Indian Section 498A Prosecutions Against Expat Indian Husbands: An Update

Blog by Jeremy D. Morley The Supreme Court of India has issued another significant ruling concerning the notorious Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code. Rajesh Chaddha v. State of Uttar Pradesh [2025 INSC 671]. The Penal Code has recently been renamed as the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and Section 498A is now renumbered as Sections […]

JAPANESE ADMINISTRATIVE DIVORCES: KYOGI RIKON DIVORCES IN U.S. COURTS

Blog by Jeremy D. Morley[1] www.international-divorce.com  A divorce by consent in Japan, known as a kyogi rikon, is obtained by completing a one-page “rikon todoke” form identifying basic matters about the parties and their children, such as names of the parties, the fact that it was a divorce by consent, the nationality of the spouse if the spouse […]

Domestic Violence and Grave Risk of Harm under the Hague Convention

Blog I will be presenting at a workshop on Domestic Violence and Grave Risk of Harm under the Hague Convention at the AFCC Conference in New Orleans on May 30, 2025, together with three excellent Canadian lawyers, Max Blitt (Calgary), Michael Stangarone and Tiffany Guo (Toronto). The workshop announcement reads:“The Hague Convention of 25 October 1980, […]

NO SUMMARY RETURN OF CHILD ABDUCTED FROM CHINA

Blog by Jeremy D. Morley A court in England has refused to order the summary return to China of a child abducted from that country because of expert evidence concerning the laws and procedures of China in cross-border child custody cases. E v O [2025] EWHC 500 (Fam).  The married parties, a Chinese mother and […]

NETHERLANDS – HAGUE ABDUCTION CONVENTION AND NON-HAGUE COUNTRIES

Blog The Hague Abduction Convention normally applies only if the Convention is in force between the country of the child’s habitual residence and the country in which the child is currently located. However, the Dutch Implementation Act, pursuant to which the Hague Abduction Convention was brought into Dutch law, provides that the Implementation Act also […]

PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENTS IN AUSTRALIA

Blog Prenuptial agreements, known as “binding financial agreements,” first became enforceable in Australia in 2000 with the enactment of the Family Law Amendment Act 2000. Part VIIIA of the Family Law Act sets forth particular provisions concerning the oversight to be given to such agreements by family law solicitors. For a binding financial agreement to […]

PREVENTING INTERNATIONAL CHILD ABDUCTION: NEW TEXAS CASE

Blog by Jeremy D. Morley An appeal court in Texas has upheld a trial court’s refusal to impose measures intended to prevent the abduction of a child to Russia by a Russian parent, even though the United States has refused to accept Russia as a treaty partner under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects […]