Fourth Circuit Holds ICARA Does Not Confer Federal Jurisdiction for Access Claims

Per Cantor v. Cohen, 442 F.3d 196 (4th Cir. Mar. 21, 2006):

. . . [T]his appeal presents the question of whether federal courts are authorized to hear access claims under ICARA [International Child Abduction Remedies Act]. ICARA is the federal legislation which implemented the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, October 25, 1980, 19 I.L.M. 1501 (1980) (the “Hague Convention” or “Convention”) in the United States.

. . .

[U]nder the Convention, the Appellant has no right to initiate judicial proceedings for access claims and the federal courts are not authorized to exercise jurisdiction over the access claims brought by the Appellant. It is on this premise that we find, and the district court found, that the courts of the United States lack a substantive basis for the resolution of the access claims asserted by the Appellant.