Activities of the Centre

Research

Since its inception, a key activity of the Centre has been research into international parental child abduction. In 1996 it obtained a research grant from the Lord Chancellor’s Department to carry out a comparative study of the workings of the Hague Convention in Germany and England and Wales. It was also funded by the Nuffield Foundation to carry out the first socio-legal study on the English experience of abduction, through an analysis of records held at the Child Abduction Unit. The study has been published (see below). The Anglo-German project was completed in time to inform the first Anglo-German judicial conference on the subject held at Dartington in May 1997. It has been published in both English and German (see below). The research has led to amendments to German law governing the judicial jurisdiction to hear abduction cases. Both studies were carried out by Professor Nigel Lowe, Director of the Centre and Alison Perry, former research associate.

On the basis of this research, Professor Lowe was invited to take part in an International Forum held in Washington DC, USA in 1998, examining proposals for the improvement of the Hague Convention. He was subsequently asked to write up the Forum in the form of an Action Agenda (see below), presented at the launch of the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC) held at the British Embassy in Washington in 1999 at which the keynote speakers were Hillary Clinton and Cherie Booth QC.

Other research currently being undertaken includes comparative perspectives on the welfare of children in divorce (Professor Mervyn Murch) and European Standards of Family Law (Professor Nigel Lowe, in association with the Council of Europe).

Post-graduate degrees by research (M.Phil., Ph.D.)

The Centre invites applications from well-qualified law graduates to undertake postgraduate research on the following topics:

1. An investigation into the history and workings of the Council of Europe and the Hague Conference on Private International Law.
2. A study of the mechanisms of the various Central Authorities, such as the Official Solicitor's Department's Child Abduction Unit, set up under some international Conventions to co-ordinate the operation of those Conventions.
3. An empirical study of the impact upon families of child abduction, seeking ways to predict likely abductors and to develop prevention measures.
4. An investigation into the scale of family disputes involving foreign property, and into the way international property issues are dealt with by legal practitioners in the UK.

The Centre has established a close working relationship with the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference and with the Council of Europe at Strasbourg and its researchers will have access to material held at the Hague and at Strasbourg.

Anglo-German Judicial Conferences

The Centre (through Professors Lowe and Murch) was instrumental in organising the first Anglo-German Judicial Conference held in Dartington, Devon in May 1997. This was the first conference of its kind and was funded inter alia by the Anglo-German Foundation and the Nuffield Foundation. A follow-up conference was held in Wustrau, Germany in September 1998 and again the Centre, in association with the Wolfgang Goethe University of Frankfurt, was an important catalyst. Professor Murch was a key speaker and Chair at the conference.

Relationship with the Wolfgang Goethe University at Frankfurt, Germany

Again since its inception, the Cardiff Centre, principally through Professor Murch, has fostered relations with like-minded colleagues at the Wolfgang Goethe University at Frankfurt. In particular, young researchers from each institution have taken part in two symposiums, the first at Cardiff and the second at Frankfurt, offering the opportunity to present their research and exchange ideas.

Facilitating visits by foreign experts

A further aim of the Centre is to establish itself as a focal point for those interested in international family law. The Centre welcomes foreign experts in international family law matters to come and study at Cardiff for varying periods.