跨境婚姻關係所涉及的子女管養權問題

 跨境婚姻關係所涉及的子女管養權問題

現時香港有近35% 的婚姻為中港婚姻。法庭審理中港婚姻的離婚案時，香港法庭的判決在內地實施時會遇到司法管轄權的問題而未能在內地有效實施。

於是，香港和中國政府在2017年簽訂了《關於內地與香港特別行政區法院相互認可和執行婚姻家庭民事案件判決的安排》（簡稱”安排”）。此”安排”使香港法庭的命令如管養權的安排，能夠在內地實施，為兩地法律上合作的一大進步。

此”安排”生效前，香港法庭只能依靠香港法例第512條《擄拐和管養兒童條例》，在有加入《海牙公約》的國家實施香港的法庭命令。不幸的是，內地沒有加入此公約，導致香港法庭的命令在內地不具有法律效力。L v L 一案正反映 ”安排”生效前跨境婚姻衍生的問題。此案的兒子出生後一直與父母在香港居住，但是母親在案件審理期間私自帶走了兒子回內地，但是內地法庭對這宗離婚案沒有司法管轄權。雖然父親入稟法庭取得兒子的撫養權，但是香港法庭的判決在內地沒有法律效力，父親只好無奈接受一直無法與當時年僅5歲的兒子聯絡。

兩地政府簽訂這份”安排”後，香港法院就跨境婚姻的管養權判決能夠在內地實施，以解決跨境婚姻衍生的司法管轄權問題。如有需要，歡迎致電或WhatsApp 69776708 林先生。

Cross-border divorces – can custody be enforced across the border?

More than a third of marriages in Hong Kong are cross-border marriages. Cross-border divorce cases face the issue of jurisdiction to enforce Hong Kong judgments in the mainland.

In light of this problem, the Hong Kong and the Chinese government have signed an arrangement called “Arrangement on Reciprocal Recognition and Enforcement of Civil judgments in Matrimonial and Family Cases” (“the Arrangement”) to allow orders issued in the Hong Kong courts to be enforced in the mainland. This is a significant improvement to enforce custody orders when a child is brought to the mainland by one party unilaterally.

Before the Arrangement was enforced, Hong Kong courts could only rely on Child Abduction and Custody Ordinance (Cap.512) to enforce orders to countries which have joined the Hague Convention. Unfortunately, China is not a party to the Convention, and thus, the problem of enforcement concerning cross-border divorces arises. The difficulties of enforcing custody orders in the mainland is highlighted in L v L [2017] HKFLR 588, which happened before the Arrangement was enforced. In this case, the child had been living in Hong Kong until the mother unilaterally brought the child to the mainland. Although the Hong Kong court granted custody to the father, the father could not enforce the order in the mainland, and therefore, unable to contact his then 5-year-old son.

Therefore, the Arrangement now allows parties to enforce custody orders in the mainland in the context of cross-border marriages to better protect the rights of parties in cross-border marriages.