Cross-border parental child abduction in the European Union: hearing the child’s voice

Abstract

As international parental abduction cases are often reported in the press and media, society tends to empathise with the victimised parent. Although the left-behind parent suffers the consequences, the child remains the main victim of parental abduction. This paper addresses cross-border parental child abduction within the European Union from the perspective of the child. The aim is to develop the way in which the child's opinion is gathered during the procedure before assessing its consideration by the judge.