Cross-border protection of children under the 1996 Hague Convention on Jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition, enforcement, and co-operation in respect of parental responsibility and measures for the protection of children in Russia

As part of a research project examining the legal framework for the cross-border protection of children, this article focuses on the application of the 1996 Hague Convention in Russia. Russia’s history of implementing this Convention is relatively short, as it only acceded to it in 2012. The beginning was very promising, with the Neustadt case being seen as a success story. However, later cases have revealed a gradual shift in the approach of Russian courts to the 1996 Hague Convention, marked by an increasing tendency to interpret Russia’s obligations under the Convention through the prism of domestic legal concepts and constitutional principles rather than the principles and concepts enshrined in the Convention itself, particularly with regard to proceedings concerning the recognition and enforcement of foreign return orders. The overall picture that emerges is therefore a differentiated and fragmented one. The evolution of the case law examined in this chapter illustrates both the potential of the 1996 Hague Convention and the fragility of its practical effectiveness.