Briefing: Crib sheet - Child contact convention

Did I tell you I'm going to work in Italy? Wow! Pasta, olives and limoncello on demand! Of course, you can get them in Sainsbury's too, but ...

But my children aren't coming with me. Oh. They'll be able to visit you, won't they? Have you checked how contact arrangements across Europe work?

The Child Abduction Unit in the Office of the Official Solicitor is responsible for operating the registration of international contact orders. Contact orders work on the principle of mutual recognition and enforcement as agreed under the 1980 Luxembourg Convention: this means a court order made in one country can be recognised as binding in another if both are signatories to the relevant conventions. A new good practice child contact convention has been drafted and signed so far by 12 states, including Italy - but not as yet the UK. Instead, the Government is asking people what they think about it.