G&A Newsletter

Last month, Erika shared a story with me about a man who was arrested for trying to bring his kids back from his ex-wife in Japan. It appears that on September 30, 2009, Christopher Savoie, of Franklin, Tennessee, was arrested in Japan after he tried to take back his two children from his ex-wife Noriko Savoie. Apparently, some months after their divorce, Noriko Savoie violated a Tennessee court order by running away with the couple's two children to her native Japan. A month later, Christopher traveled to Japan to bring back his 8-year-old son Isaac and 6-year-old daughter Rebecca, and was arrested and thrown in jail on child abduction charges by Japanese authorities.

At first, I did not think he would be facing any jail time because I assumed that Japan was one of the signatory countries of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. The convention, signed by 80 countries, seeks to ensure that custody decisions are made by the appropriate courts and that the rights of access of both parents are protected.

Sadly, I discovered that Japan actually was not a member of the convention and thus Mr. Savoie might actually be in big trouble if he does not get any help from the US government. I was even more surprised and disappointed after reviewing which other countries were and were not members of the convention and decided to crosscheck the countries with the G-20 Countries. I discovered that it was not only Japan who was a member of the G-20 but not of the convention, but numerous other countries too.

The Group of Twenty (G-20) was established in 1999 to bring together industrialized and developing economies to discuss issues in the global economy. The G-20 promotes open and constructive discussion and helps to support growth and development across the globe. The G-20 is made up of the finance ministers and central bank governors between the United States of America and 18 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom, and The European Union, who is represented by the rotating Council presidency and the European Central Bank, is the 20th member of the G-20.

I am glad to report that Christopher Savoie was recently released from jail but he still might face charges for breaking the law when he took his children and tried to bring them back to America. Thankfully, some members of Congress have voiced their support for Mr. Savoie. Nevertheless, you would think the US Government would make it a priority to make sure countries are a member of the convention if they are going to be doing business with them. I don't want to imagine a child being taken away to another country by ex-spouses, or legal guardians and then find out that they can't be brought back. Hopefully, this Savoie case will cause Japan (and the rest of the world) to join the convention.