Inchausti Fernando Gascón, Mariscal Pilar Peiteado, International child abduction in the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union: learning from the past and looking to the future

International child abduction is a phenomenon of enormous practical relevance and for which, as for a few others, a rapid reaction is essential. This reaction, at the same time, must be the result of cooperation between authorities of different States, normally based on the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (hereinafter called the 1980 Hague Convention). The practical application of international law in this area, however, is not without its challenges, many of them arising from the plurality of legal sources and actors involved . When an international abduction occurs, the parent whose custody rights have been affected usually turns to the courts of the State where the child is currently located to seek the immediate return of the child, in accordance with the provisions of the 1980 Hague...