United States Supreme Court Rules It Lacks Authority to Change Terms of International Treaty

In a case handled by Hunton & Williams and argued by partner Shawn Regan, the United States Supreme Court ruled today that it lacks authority to change the terms of an international treaty on child abduction to benefit a father who, because he lacked knowledge of the location to which the child had been abducted by her mother, missed a deadline for commencing proceedings in the United States. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. issued a concurring opinion joined by Justices Stephen G. Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor, however, emphasizing that, although deadlines in the treaty are rigid, judges still maintain equitable discretion to consider the abducting parent’s misconduct in determining whether the abducted child should be returned. The opinions are available here and a related news summary is available here.