Linda D. Elrod, Richard S. Righter
Distinguished Professor of Law,
Director of Children and Family Law
Center, Washburn University School of
Law, June 20, 2014

• Full faith and credit
• Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act
• Uniform Interstate Family Support Act
• Full Faith and Credit to Child Support Orders Act
• Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act
• Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and
Enforcement Act (as amended 2013 for U.S. implementation of Hague Convention on
Protection of Children)

• 1994 Violence Against Women Act, Pub. L. No. 103-
322, 108 Stat. 1902-55 (VAWA), last reenacted 2013
• Full faith and credit to protection orders of other states.
18 U.S.C.
§ 2265.
• Uniform Interstate Enforcement of Domestic
Violence Protection Orders Act (2000) (last amended in 2002) (UIEDVPOA)
• 9 U.L.A. 28 (Supp. 2003)
• See E. Sack, Domestic Violence Across State Lines: The Full
Faith and Credit Clause, Congressional Power, and the
Interstate Enforcement of Protection Orders, 98
Northwestern U. L. Rev. 827 (2004).

• VAWA self-petitions for immigrants battered or subjected to extreme cruelty by U.S. citizen or lawful residence spouse or parent or child over age
21, INA § 204(a)(1)(A)(iii-v)
• VAWA cancellation of removal and VAWA suspension of deportation
• U visas - immigrant victims INA § 101(a)(15)(U)
• T visas - immigrant victims of either sex or labor trafficking ( INA § 101(a)(15)(T)(ii))

• Comity
• Hague Conventions on
• Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (1980)
• Intercountry Cooperation with Respect of International
Adoption (1993)
• Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Co-operation in Respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children (1996)
• Protection of Adults (2000)
• International Enforcement of Child Support and Other
Forms of Family Maintenance (2007)

• 2011 Council of Hague Conference on Private
International Law - feasibility study
• March 2012 - Recognition and Enforcement of
Foreign Civil Protection Orders: A Preliminary
Note
• February 2014 – Report of the Meeting of the
Experts’ Group on the Recognition and
Enforcement of Civil Protection Orders
• April 2014 - Council will continue to investigate and gather more statistics

• 2011 – Uniform Enforcement of Canadian
Judgments and Decrees Act (UECJDA)
• facilitates recognition and enforcement of United States and other protection orders if certain requirements are met
• Unless foreign state of origin has been excluded expressly from the provisions of the act.

• 2013 - Uniform Law Commission appointed drafting committee
• Meetings - October, 2013; March, 2014
• First reading, July 2014; possible adoption July
2015
• For most current drafts, see www.uniformlaws.org

• Both recognize DV protection orders without requiring the party seeking enforcement to register the order
• Both require a law enforcement agency or court to respect a facially valid order until successfully challenged after the request for emergency relief has passed.

• Law enforcement officer of this State, upon determination of probable cause to believe that a valid Canadian protection order exists and has been violated, shall enforce the order as if it were an order of a tribunal of this State.

• Focus on emergency protection
• Only applies to court orders
• Recognizes and enforces only the parts of the
Canadian protection order requiring no contact
• Only applies to Canadian civil orders, not criminal

• Present certified copy to [state agency responsible for registration of such orders]; or
• Present a certified copy of the order to [an agency designated by the State] and request that the order be registered with [state agency responsible for registration of such orders].

• Current Draft of Recognition and Enforcement of
Canadian Domestic Violence Protection Orders
• Excerpt from March 19, 2014 Memo from Merle H.
Weiner to Drafting Committee on RECDVPO
• Hague Conference on Private International Law,
Report of the Meeting of the Experts’ Group on the
Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Civil
Protection Orders

• Shani M. King, The Hague Convention and
Domestic Violence: Proposals for Balancing the
Policies of Discouraging Child Abduction and
Protecting Children from Domestic Violence, 47
Fam. L. Q. 299 (2013)
• Merle H. Weiner, International Child Abduction
and the Escape from Domestic Violence, 69
Fordham L. Rev. 593 (2000)