{"id":84524,"date":"2021-07-08T12:46:06","date_gmt":"2021-07-08T10:46:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/servizi-consolari-e-visti\/italiani-all-estero\/minori-estero\/sottrazioneinternazionalediminori\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T17:44:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T16:44:14","slug":"sottrazioneinternazionalediminori","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/servizi-consolari-e-visti\/italiani-all-estero\/minori-estero\/sottrazioneinternazionalediminori\/","title":{"rendered":"International child abduction"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>(Reference Office:\u00a0<\/strong><strong>D.G.IT<\/strong><strong>. \u2013 Consular Protection Unit)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The expression \u201c<strong>international child abduction<\/strong>\u201d refers to the situation in which a child:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>is unlawfully taken abroad by those who do not exercise exclusive parental authority, without any authorisation;<\/li>\n<li>is not taken back to the country of habitual residence following a stay abroad.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The above cases occur more frequently when the break-up of the family unit arises in unions between persons of different nationality, culture, traditions, as well as legal system. People\u2019s growing mobility and the increase in <em>de facto<\/em> unions also affect this phenomenon.<\/p>\n<p>Child abduction and keeping the child abroad constitute a crime under Article 574 <em>bis<\/em> of the Criminal Code, if no other more severe offence (e.g. Article 605 of the Criminal Code) is detected.<\/p>\n<p><strong>With a view to preventing child abduction it is appropriate to<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>enquire about the custody and access rights provisions in force in the other parent&#8217;s country of nationality (or residence);<\/li>\n<li>where possible, have any child custody order obtained in Italy (or in the country of residence) recognised in the other parent&#8217;s country of nationality (or country of residence), or initiate similar proceedings directly in that country;<\/li>\n<li>have the other parent sign an undertaking to return to Italy on the date set;<\/li>\n<li>ask the competent judge to prohibit the expatriation of the child and\/or the parent without the other parent\u2019s consent;<\/li>\n<li>not to grant consent to the issuance of the child&#8217;s passport or withdraw the consent previously granted.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>If abduction has already taken place<\/strong>, the parent or the holder of custody rights, when different, may:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>consider filing a complaint with the competent judicial police authorities;<\/li>\n<li>apply to the Central Authority at the Ministry of Justice (<em>(<\/em><a href=\"mailto:autoritacentrali.dgmc@giustizia.it\"><em>autoritacentrali.dgmc@giustizia.it<\/em><\/a>) if the Hague Convention of October 25, 1980 or EC Regulation No. 2201\/2003 is in force between Italy and the country of expected destination of the child. If the prerequisites are met, it is possible &#8211; through the Central Authority &#8211; to submit an application for the child\u2019s return or an application for regulating access rights;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>contact the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) (<em><u><a href=\"mailto:dgit.tutela@esteri.it\">dgit.tutela@esteri.it<\/a><\/u><\/em>), in case an Italian <strong>child<\/strong> is abducted and taken abroad, if consular assistance is needed there. Where appropriate, MAECI may activate its diplomatic-consular Missions abroad for on-site actions (provision of lawyers&#8217; names; mediation attempts; support to the Central Authority&#8217;s action, etc.).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>On the other hand, MAECI cannot<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>represent the compatriot in legal proceedings;<\/li>\n<li>provide economic and financial support, unless the person concerned is destitute and resident abroad;<\/li>\n<li>take action in violation of local laws or international standards;<\/li>\n<li>bring a case before the local courts to have a national order recognised or enforced.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>There is only one possible form of \u201cprevention\u201d to avoid conflict situations:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <strong>to prioritise the primary and best interest of the child by trying to reach an agreement on custody and\/or access rights.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>For further information:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.giustizia.it\/giustizia\/it\/mg_2_5_10.wp\"><i>http:\/\/www.giustizia.it\/giustizia\/it\/mg_2_5_10.wp<\/i><\/a><i><\/i><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hcch.net\/index_en.php?act=text.display&amp;tid=21\"><i>http:\/\/www.hcch.net\/index_en.php?act=text.display&amp;tid=21<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Reference Office:\u00a0D.G.IT. \u2013 Consular Protection Unit) The expression \u201cinternational child abduction\u201d refers to the situation in which a child: is unlawfully taken abroad by those who do not exercise exclusive parental authority, without any authorisation; is not taken back to the country of habitual residence following a stay abroad. The above cases occur more frequently [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":46091,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-84524","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/84524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84524"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/84524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":166090,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/84524\/revisions\/166090"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/46091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}