Cured: Proposing a Solution to the Hague Convention’s “Zone of Disease” Defense
https://cjil.uchicago.edu/print-archive/cured-proposing-solution-hague-conventions-zone-disease-defense
This Comment argues that courts should adopt a rebuttable presumption against Hague Convention Article 13(b) defenses to international child abduction that are predicated on the risks of an infectious disease, or “zone of disease” defenses. Taking parents facing Hague Convention litigation have invoked Article 13(b), which provides a defense against a child’s return if there is “a grave risk that his or her return would expose the child to physical or psychological harm or otherwise place the child in an intolerable situation," based on the risks associated with international travel during the COVID-19 pandemic.