Browser Compatibility Notice:

            WHEREAS, the Hague Convention (hereinafter “the Convention”) on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction is a mechanism for parents seeking the return of children who have been wrongfully removed or retained from the child’s country of habitual residence, and

            WHEREAS, in 1988, Congress enacted the International Child Abduction Remedies Act to implement the Convention in the United States, and

            WHEREAS, Florida law recognizes the Convention in §§ 61.524 – 61.525, Florida Statutes, and

            WHEREAS, in accordance with the Convention, a person whose custody rights have been breached by the wrongful removal or retention of a child under the age of sixteen may file a petition in the appropriate court where the child is located, upon which the Court is required to act expeditiously, and

            WHEREAS, the Florida Supreme Court has issued an administrative order (AOSC19-19) directing the chief judge of each judicial circuit to designate a judge with primary responsibility for handling Convention cases filed in his/her jurisdiction;

            NOW THEREFORE, I, JAMES R, CLAYTON, Chief Judge of the Seventh Judicial Circuit of Florida, hereby designate the family law administrative judge of the circuit as the judge with primary responsibility for handling Convention cases filed in Seventh Judicial Circuit.

            IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that upon the filing of a Convention petition in Flagler, Putnam, St. Johns or Volusia counties, the Clerk of Court’s office is to assign the case to the family law administrative judge and immediately notify his or her office of its existence.

TO BE RECORDED in Flagler, Putnam, St. Johns, and Volusia counties.

DONE AND ORDERED in DeLand, Volusia County, Florida this 30^th day of September 2022.