The Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction 1980 is a multilateral treaty intended to:

• trace and secure the prompt return of children under the age of 16 who have either been ‘wrongfully’ removed from one Contracting State to another or ‘wrongfully’ retained in another Contracting State, and
• organise or secure the effective exercise of access (visitation) rights.

  ‘Abduction’ means ‘wrongfully removing’ to another country or ‘wrongfully retaining’ a child in a country where he has not been ‘habitually resident’, i.e. living.