set to be extended to Bermuda.

The International Child Abduction Act 1998 was tabled in the House of Assembly on Friday by Health and Family Services Minister Wayne Furbert.

The legislation will safeguard the interests of children who are wrongly transported across international borders and provides for their safe return to their country of domicile.

The Bill is based upon the Child Abduction and Custody Act 1985 of the United Kingdom. Bermuda was not included when the agreement was signed by the UK.

And it follows on from Bermuda's adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child. Article 11 of this convention protects children from being taken abroad or kept abroad from their homeland.

This new legislation gives the practical effect.

The Hague Convention has been ratified or acceded to by nearly 50 states and has been called one of the great successes of the work of the Hague Conference.

The main characteristics of the convention are: it covers a wide range of circumstances in which a child is taken across an international boundary or retained outside his own country; it does not depend upon the existence of any court order in that country; it provides a clear and simple general rule that the child must be returned forthwith to the state of his habitual residence, with limited and clearly defined exceptions; and it ensures that the official assistance is made available promptly both to assist parents wishing to invoke its provisions and to intervene effectively to secure the welfare of the child pending his return.

Essentially it will allow for proceedings to take place which will allow Bermudian children to return home after they have been taken abroad or kept in another country which is also a party to the Hague Convention.

It will also provide for children from countries party to the Hague Convention to return home if they are being kept in Bermuda or are brought to the Island.