The Republic of Cyprus has acceded to the Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction concluded in The Hague on 25 October 1980. In implementing this Convention, the Ministry of Justice and Public Order has been assigned as the Central Authority and cooperates with counterpart Central Authorities of other Contracting States.

This Convention applies to the Republic of Cyprus and the States below in regard to which the Republic has declared its acceptance of their accession.

http://hcch.e-vision.nl/index_en.php?act=conventions.status&cid=24

For more information on the Hague Convention of 25 October 1980, click here.

The object of the convention is:

a) to secure the prompt return of children wrongfully removed to or retained in any Contracting State, and

b) to ensure that rights of custody and of access under the law of one Contracting State are effectively respected in the other Contracting States.

Application forms to request the return of a child or to secure access rights on the basis of the aforementioned Convention are provided below.

In addition, after the accession of Cyprus to the European Union, Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003, ‘Regulation (EC) concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility’ also applies, repealing Regulation (EC) No 1347/2000.

From 1st August, 2022 the Regulation has been repealed and replaced by the Regulation (EU) 2019/1111 on jurisdiction, the recognition and enforcement of decisions in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility, and on international child abduction (recast).

Practice guide for the application of the Brussels IIb Regulation. For more languages click here.

Information and Guidelines on Procedures Regarding Cross-border Child Abduction

Rights and rules which apply to cross-border abduction of a child by a parent

Parental Responsibility

Parental responsibility means all rights and obligations towards a child and its assets. Although this concept varies between the Member States, it usually covers custody and visiting rights.

What is custody? What are visiting rights?

As long as the parents live together, they usually hold custody over their children jointly. However, if the parents get divorced or split up, they need to decide how this responsibility will be exercised in the future.

The parents may decide that the child shall live alternately with both parents, or with one parent. In the latter case, the other parent usually has a right to visit the child at certain times.

Custody rights also cover other rights and duties linked to the education and care of the child, including the right to look after the child and his/her assets. The parents usually have the parental responsibility for a child, but parental responsibility may also be given to an institution to which the child is entrusted.

Who decides on the custody and visiting rights?

The parents may decide on these matters by mutual agreement. A mediator or lawyer can help if the parents do not manage to reach to an agreement. The parents may have to go to court and the court may decide that both parents shall have custody over the child (joint custody) or that one of the parents shall have custody (single custody). In the case that only one parent has custody, the court may decide on visiting rights for the other parent.

In the case of an international couple, EU rules determine which court has the responsibility to deal with the case. The main aim is to avoid both parents addressing the court in their own country and two decisions being issued for the same case. The principle is that the responsible court is the court in the country where the child habitually resides.

Will the decision of the court be enforced in the other EU country?

A mechanism for the recognition and enforcement of decisions ensures that the decision of the court is applied in other EU countries once it has been issued. This makes it easier for those with parental responsibility to exercise their rights.

In particular, a judgment on access rights will be recognized in another EU Member State without any special procedure being required, thus supporting the relationship between the child and both parents.

https://e-iustice.europa.eu/content parental responsibility-302-en.do?clang=en

Lawful removal of a Child

Unlawful Removal of a Child

Central Authority
Ministry of Justice and Public Order
International Legal Cooperation Unit
125 Athalassas Ave.
1461 Nicosia
Cyprus

Contact point:
Ms Troodia Dionysiou
International Legal Cooperation Unit
Ministry of Justice and Public Order
Tel: (+357) 22805932
Fax: (+357)22518328
Email: tdionysiou@mjpo.gov.cy

Mr Andreas Kyriakides
International Legal Cooperation Unit
Ministry of Justice and Public Order
Tel: (+357) 22805928
Fax: (+357)22518328
Email: akyriakides@papd.mof.gov.cy

Related Forms:

- List of Documents

- Access Form

- Return Form

- Authorisation

Which EU rules apply to cases involving cross-border abduction?

How do EU rules help to prevent child abduction?

How can a parent get an abducted child back?

Can a court in the country to which the child was abducted refuse the return of the child?

Will the judgment of the court be automatically enforceable?

Recasting

Parental Child Abduction / Retention and Criminal Aspect of the Matter (POLICE)

The Police is responsible for facilitating the return of unlawfully removed children through criminal law. Where an affected parent reports the abduction/retention of a child by the person with legal guardianship (as a rule, the other parent), the Police investigates the following offences under the Criminal Code:

a) Child abduction by the legal guardian (Articles 245A, 248 of the Criminal Code)

b) Unlawful retention of the child outside the borders of the Republic (Article 248A of the Criminal Code)

Both offences include the element of removal of the child outside the borders of the Republic, while as regards (b) (Article 248A), the removal has taken place for a specified time with the consent of the person exercising joint custody and there is unlawful retention after the specified period has elapsed. Based on this particular law, a child is considered underage until the age of 16.

The procedure that the Police follows in such cases is the following:

Once the affected parent has filed a report with the Divisional Criminal Investigation Department, arrangements are made to place the data relating to the child and the abductor-parent on the List of Banned Persons.

(STOP-LIST /ALERT LIST).

If there are indications or suspicions that the child has been removed or retained in another country, the INTERPOL National Central Bureau is notified so that it may cooperate with its counterpart INTERPOL Bureau in the country where it is suspected the child has been taken or retained.

Once a national arrest warrant has been issued for the parent-abductor and after securing approval from the Cypriot Attorney General for an international search or by issuing a European arrest warrant, a message is sent via INTERPOL for the arrest of the parent-abductor with the aim of extraditing or surrendering the parent to the Cypriot authorities.

INTERPOL is also asked to issue a RED NOTICE for the wanted person and a YELLOW NOTICE for the missing/underage person. Written consent from the affected parent must be obtained for the issuance of the Yellow Notice for the underage person. Note that a photograph of the child is required for the issuance of a Yellow Notice.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is notified in cases where the parent-abductor has fled to a State outside the European Union (third country). Note that there must be an extradition treaty in place between the two countries in order for the fugitive being sought by the Cypriot authorities to be extradited.

In cases where the child has been removed to a Hague Convention Contracting State, affected parents will be notified that, along with any criminal/police investigation in progress, the parents may also file an application through the Ministry of Justice and Public Order to initiate civil proceedings based on the Hague Convention.