It is usually a question of international child abduction when the conditions below are fulfilled:

• Without the consent of the custodian a child has been taken abroad or is retained there after a meeting based on rights of access.
• The child has permanently resided in Finland
• The child is less than 16 years old.

If the state involved has acceded to the so-called Hague Convention of 1980 the Ministry of Justice is the Finnish Central Authority. Nearly all European countries as well as the USA and Canada are parties to the Convention.

If the child has been taken to a country that is not a party to the Convention, the first authority to contact is the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

A booklet on international child abduction has been published.

The central multilateral agreement is the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Treaty Series 57/1994). The convention text, memoranda and ratification details are found on the Internet pages of the Hague Conference on Private International Law.

The national provisions on child abduction are found in the Child Custody and Right of Access Act (361/1983). Between the European Union Member States also the so-called Brussels IIa -Regulation has to be taken into account.

Updated on 7 January 2010