FORUM ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND THE OPERATION OF
ARTICLE 13(1)(B) OF THE 1980 CHILD ABDUCTION CONVENTION
SANDTON, SOUTH AFRICA, 18-21 JUNE 2024
SPEAKERS
(Bios as submitted by speakers)
OPENING SESSION
ELSABE SCHOEMAN
Professor Elsabe Schoeman
holds the degrees BLC (UP) LLB LLD (Unisa). She is the first
female Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Pretoria.
Previously, she was a Professor in the Department of Jurisprudence, College of Law, at the
University of South Africa, and an Associate Professor and Deputy Dean in the Faculty of
Law at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. She is an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow
and spends significant periods of time researching at the Institut für internationales und
ausländisches Privatrecht at the University of Cologne, Germany.
Schoeman specialises in private international and comparative law. Her main areas of
research are jurisdiction in cross-border commercial litigation and choice of law in contract,
delict/tort and selected areas of family law. Currently, her research is focused on access
to justice for victims of human rights infringements and/or environmental delicts/torts as
a result of mining and oil exploration in African countries.
Schoeman has published widely in her areas of interest and has also made contributions
to international legal encyclopaedias, as well as submissions to law commissions (in South
Africa and New Zealand/Australia), and she has advised law firms in South Africa, New
Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany on transnational
litigation. Her research has been cited locally and internationally, and it has been relied on
in international court cases. She has published in the leading law journals, locally and
internationally, in her field of research, such as the Comparative and International Law
Journal of Southern Africa (CILSA), Journal of Contemporary Roman-Dutch Law (THRHR),
South African Law Journal, Journal of South African Law (TSAR), New Zealand Law Review,
American Journal of Comparative Law; Lloyd’s Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly,
Journal of Private International Law and Praxis des Internationalen Privat- und
Verfahrensrechts. She has also authored a number of expert international reports and has
been invited to participate in several international book projects in her subject area.
Schoeman is an elected associate member of the International Academy of Comparative
Law, as well as a full member and judge of the Expert Committee of the St. Petersburg
International Legal Forum.
JOHN JEFFERY
John Jeffery, MP is South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional
Development. He studied law at the University of Natal and holds BA and LLB degrees, as
well as a postgraduate diploma in environmental law, all from the University of Natal. He
is an admitted Attorney of the High Court of South Africa.
He is a member of the ruling party, the African National Congress. After South Africa’s
transition to a constitutional democracy in 1994, Mr Jeffery became a member of the
KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature where he chaired the Environment and Conservation
Portfolio Committee.
Mr Jeffery has been a member of the National Assembly of Parliament since 1999. He is
a former member of the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development
where he was instrumental in shaping a number of pieces of legislation such as, amongst
others, the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, 2007
and the Child Justice Act, 2008.
He has held the position of Parliamentary Counsellor to the President and Deputy President
from 1999 to July 2013, serving under Presidents Mbeki, Motlanthe and Zuma. He was
appointed as Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development in July 2013 and
was re-appointed in 2019 by President Cyril Ramaphosa for a second term of office. Mr
Jeffery is passionate about justice, human rights and constitutional awareness
CHRISTOPHE BERNASCONI
Dr Christophe Bernasconi took the office of Secretary General of the Hague Conference on
Private International Law (HCCH) on 1 July 2013. In 2018, he was reappointed for a further
term of five years; and in 2023, he was appointed for another five-year term (effective
1 July). Dr Bernasconi had joined the Permanent Bureau (the Secretariat of the HCCH) in
September 1997 as Secretary, became First Secretary in May 2000, and Deputy Secretary
General in July 2011.
He holds a law degree from Fribourg University in Switzerland (magna cum laude; bilingual
German and French), an LL.M. degree in comparative law from McGill University in
Montreal (Canada) (concentration on International Commercial Law, with a Master’s
Thesis on oligopolies in unfair competition law), and a doctoral degree (Dr. iur. utr.) in
Private International Law from Fribourg University (summa cum laude).
He has been actively involved in numerous normative projects and non-normative activities
of the HCCH, covering the full range of its mandate, from transnational litigation and
Apostille (incl. the e-APP), to international family and child protection law, as well as
commercial, digital and finance law. As Secretary General, he is focusing on the good
governance and strategic development of the HCCH, spearheading efforts towards its
universality and inclusiveness.
Before joining the Permanent Bureau, Dr Bernasconi lectured Private International Law at
the University of Fribourg, worked as Legal Expert at the Swiss Institute of Comparative
Law in Lausanne, and as Scientific Collaborator at the Federal Office of Justi
ce in
Switzerland. He also advised practitioners on various Private International Law matters.
OPENING ADDRESS
MANDISA MURIEL LINDELWA
MAYA
Deputy Chief Justice Mandisa Muriel Lindelwa Maya holds B.Proc. (University of Transkei),
LLB (University of Natal, Durban) and LLM (Duke University, USA) degrees and four LLD
(Honoris Causa) degrees, awarded by Nelson Mandela University, Walter Sisulu University,
University of Fort Hare and University of South Africa, in recognition of her contribution to
the development of jurisprudence in South Africa as well as the empowerment of women
in the legal profession and the judiciary.
She is the Chancellor of the University of Mpumalanga; a former Deputy President and
President of the South African Chapter of the International Association of Women Judges
and the current Vice-President of the International Association of Women Judges; a
Fulbright scholar; a Fellow of the Georgetown University Law & Gender Program and the
Commonwealth Foundation and is a recipient of the 2020 Duke University Law
International Law Alumnus Award and the 2021 Sydney and Felicia Kentridge Award.
After teaching law at the former University of Transkei, while also practising as an
advocate at the Transkei Society of Advocates, Mthatha, she became a judge in 1999 and
sat in various divisions of the High Court and the Labour Courts before her elevation to
the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa (SCA) in 2004. She became the first woman
Deputy President of the SCA in 2015, its first woman President in 2017 and the first
woman Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa in 2022. She has acted as a judge in the
Supreme Court of Namibia and the Appeal Court of Lesotho. She promoted law reform as
the Chairperson of the South African Law Reform Commission and is a member of the
Commonwealth Association of Law Reform Agencies, the South African Judicial Education
Institute, the National Bar Examination Board, the Duke University Bolch Judicial Institute
Leadership Council, the Judicature International Editorial Board and is a Founding Editor
of the South African Chapter of International Women Judges Law Journal. She also sits in
a number of other quasi-judicial and academic organisations.
RONALDAH LERATO KARABO
OZAH
Master of Ceremony
Karabo Ozah is the Director at the Centre for Child and a Lecturer in the Department of
Private Law of the University of Pretoria in South Africa. The Centre for Child Law is an
organisation that protects and promotes children’s rights through research, advocacy and
strategic litigation. Karabo holds an LLB; a Certificate in Advanced Labour Law; LLM in
Child Law (cum laude) and LLM (Constitutional and Administrative Law) from the University
of Pretoria. She serves on the Advisory Committee of the South Af
rican Law Reform
Commission's Project 100D on Care of and Contact with Children (incorporating Family
Dispute Resolution).
Karabo is also a member of the Hague Working Group on
International Parentage and Surrogacy and in 2022 she chaired the Special Commission
of the Hague Conference on Private International Law focusing on Inter-country Adoptions.
SESSION 1
BARATANG CONSTANCE
MOCUMIE
Justice Baratang Constance Mocumie is a Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeal, since
2016. She acquired her legal qualifications between 1987 and 2005: Baccalareus
Juris/Bachelor of Jurisprudence (B. Juris), Legume Baccalaureus /Bachelor of Laws (LLB)
and Legum Magister/Master of Laws (LL
M) Specialising in Family Law from various
universities: University of Zululand, University of the North West and University of South
Africa respectively. She is registered for her LLD in Private International Law with the
University of South Africa,2023.
She was appointed a Magistrate in 1994. A Judge of the High Court in 2005.An Acting
President of the Free High Court in 2015. She acted in the Labour Appeal Court,
Competition Appeal Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal until her permanent
appointment to the Supreme Court of Appeal in July 2016. Currently, she is the Acting
Deputy President of the Supreme Court of Appeal.
In 2015, Justice Mocumie was nominated by the Chief Justice of the Republic of South
Africa (the Republic) as Primary Liaison Judge on the Hague Conference to represent the
judiciary of South Africa on International Network of Judges on the Hague Conference on
Private International Law to make submissions on behalf of the judiciary. She is a member
of the expert group on Cross Border Family Law Agreements.
Her role as a Network Judge is to facilitate direct judicial communication by serving as a
link between her colleagues at domestic level and other members of the Network at
international level. She also serves as a resource for her judicial colleagues domestically.
She reports to the Chief Justice on the activities of the National Network of Judges on their
work in their respective Divisions of the high courts on the number of applications they
have received and finalised annually under the Hague Convention on Child Abduction.
Her commitment to family law has seen her regularly attend international conferences of
Hague Convention Network Judges presented by the Hague Convention, such as
the Personal Responsibility under the 1996 Child Protection Convention, the 25th
Anniversary of the HCCH 1996 Child Protection Convention and the Convention on
International Child Abduction. She has presented on the International Child Abduction to
the International Bar Association (IBA),Miami.
She has presented courses to Aspirant Judges, Newly Appointed Judges and Permanent
Judges of the Superior Courts of South Africa, the Pan African Bar Association of South
Africa (PABASA), and the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL) since 2019 to
date on the Hague Convention on Child Abduction and its practical application.
She has written numerous cases on the Hague Convention on Child Abduction both in the
High Court and in the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa where she has shared her
expertise on the Hague Convention, on Child Abduction,1980.One of her outstanding
contribution is in LD v Central Authority (RSA) and Another (803/2020) [2022] ZASCA 6;
[2022] 1 All SA 658 (SCA) ;2022 (3) SA 96 (SCA) (18 January 2022).
JUSTICE VICTORIA BENNETT
The Honourable Justice Victoria Bennett AO was appointed to the Family Court of Australia,
as it then was, in Melbourne, in November 2005. Her Honour had been appointed to the
Federal Magistrates’ Court (as it then was) in May 2004.
Prior to her Honour’s judicial appointments, her Honour was a member of the Victorian
Bar for 17 years, practicing in many areas of law with emphasis on family law. Her Honour
was renowned for a detailed knowledge of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of
International Child Abduction and the Child Protection Convention and continues to be
regarded as one of Australia’s leading experts in this area.
In 2008, her Honour was designated as a judge of the International Hague Network of
Judges for Australia and serves together with the Honourable Chief Justice Alstergren and
the Honourable Justice Williams.
In January 2018, her Honour’s commitment and ongoing contribution to the family law
profession was honoured, with the award of an Officer in the General Division of the Order
of Australia for “distinguished service to the judiciary and the law, to the improvement of
the family law system and child protection, to legal education, and to improving access to
justice for indigenous families”.
In October 2023, Her Honour Co-Chaired the 8
th
Special Commission into the operation of
the 1986 & 1980 Conventions.
Her Honour currently sits in all areas of the court’s jurisdiction including Hague Convention
work and appeals from both Division 1 and Division 2 of the Federal Circuit Court and
Family Court of Australia.
STEFAN SCHLAUSS
Stefan Schlauss is Head of the International Civil Law branch at the Federal Office of
Justice in Bonn/Germany. He joined the Federal Office of Justice in 2007 as a civil law
judge and after a secondment to the Ministry of Justice in Berlin. He is an expert in private
international law in family law matters such as cross-
border child abduction cases,
international child support and intercountry adoption. The German Central Authorities for
international cooperation in civil law matters are part of the Federal Office of Justice in
Bonn. It also acts as the German Central Authority under the 1980 and 1996 Hague
Conventions and the Brussels IIb Regulation. Stefan Schlauss regularly publishes and
lectures on cross-border judicial cooperation in civil matters.
MARTINA ERB-KLÜNEMANN
Martina Erb-Klünemann
is a German family court judge. She worked as a judge in civil law
and criminal law cases at various courts before her appointment as a family judge in 1996.
In this capacity she is responsible for international family conflicts pending at Hamm
District Court as the centralized court for the District of Hamm Court of Appeals. Over the
years, she has dealt with more than three hundred cases on return under the 1980 Hague
Convention as a judge.
Martina Erb-Klünemann is a network judge in the International Hague Network of Judges
and in the European Judicial Network in civil and commercial matters.
She publishes and runs worldwide training courses on cross-
border family law and
mediation in cross-border family conflicts.
Her main focus is on return proceedings under the 1980 Hague Convention and on
strengthening children's rights in cross-border proceedings. She was was involved in the
drafting of the Guide to Good Practice on the Article 13(1)(b).
For many years, she has chaired the annual meetings of German judges who handle return
proceedings. She has trained judges and employees of Central Authorities in various
European and non-European countries in the application of the 1980 Hague Convention
and advised ministries on the development of effective implementing legislation.
ALISON SHALABY
Alison Shalaby OBE
is the Chief Executive Officer, reunite International Child Abduction
Centre
Alison has been instrumental in the development of the charity reunite since 1991, initially
as a volunteer member of reunite's Management Committee and now as Chief Executive
Officer.
Under Alison’s leadership, reunite operates a 24-hour telephone advice line managing in
excess of 17,000 calls per annum, and offers cross-border mediation and advocacy to
more than 1,500 families every year. Alison has developed longer-term preventative
initiatives, including urging changes to UK legislation, raising awareness about child
abduction, research into the impact of child abduction, pressing foreign governments to
deal more effectively with the problem, and using international fora to promote mediated
solutions. Reunite’s exemplary global reputation has enhanced the UK’s reputation in
dealing with this distressing issue. Many parents consider reunite’s support has been
crucial in helping them cope with the distress of this devastating situation and reuniting
them with their children.
Alison’s dedication to this cause stems from personal experience; her own daughter was
abducted to Egypt as a child and only returned after a difficult struggle.
Alison is also a trained mediator, specialising in cross-border children’s cases.
MICHELLE NAJARA A. SILVA
Michelle Najara Silva is the General Coordinator of the Brazilian Central Authority for
International Child Abduction and Intercountry Adoption (ACAF) at the Ministry of Justice
and Public Security of Brazil. She has been a State Attorney of São Paulo since 2011. Prior
to that, she worked for the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office. Michelle holds a master’s
degree in public administration and has extensive experience in management and process
flow.
BONI DE MORAES SOARES
Boni Soares holds a PhD in International Law at the University of São Paulo (USP) and is
currently a researcher at the Center for Studies in International Courts (NETI) at USP. He
also has a Master's Degree in International Relations Law from the University Center of
Brasília (UniCEUB), after a Bachelor of Laws from the Federal University of Sergipe (UFS).
Soares is currently Professor at the Superior School of the Attorney General's Office.
Since 2005, when he took a lifetime position as Attorney for Brazil, Soares has been
engaged in dozens of international negotiations on a wide range of legal topics, including
private international law, human rights, anticorruption, money laundering, acces
s to
justice, trade and investment. In 2019, he served as Vice-Chair of the Special Commission
on the Judgments Project of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, in The
Hague, after election by HCCH Member States (2016-2019), a project concluded after
approval of the 2019 Hague Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign
Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters.
He was also the Chair of the OAS First Technical Meeting of the Network for Hemispheric
Legal Cooperation in the Area of Family and Child Law - the “Family Law Cooperation
Network”, in Washington (2010), an inter-American network designed to improve efficiency
in international family law disputes.
Since 2023 Soares performs the function of National Solicitor for International Affairs,
where he oversees the legal representation of Brazil before national courts in international
law matters. In child abduction cases, he is responsible for adopting guidelines for the legal
representation of the federal government before the Brazilian courts, including on
domestic violence and its implications for the enforcement of the HCCH Child Abduction
Convention.
JESSICA RAFFAL
Jessica Raffal
is the Managing Lawyer at International Social Service Australia (ISS
Australia), where she leads the legal team specialising in international family law and the
1980 Hague Convention. Jessica joined ISS Australia in 2021 after extensive experience
within the community legal sector, including with Women’s Legal Service NSW where she
specialised in domestic violence and family law.
Prior to practising law in Australia, Jessica worked in human rights monitoring in south-east
and central Asia, focussing on women’s and children’s rights. This background ignited her
passion for advocating for vulnerable populations and ensuring that individuals navigating
complex legal systems receive the support and advocacy they need. It also cemented her
view that domestic violence is an urgent global public health and human rights threat.
Jessica has a deep commitment to justice, empowerment and legal excellence and strives
to ensure that the work of ISS Australia reflects those values.
SESSION 2
ADRIENNE BARNETT
Dr Adrienne Barnett is a Reader in Law at Brunel University London and Divisional Lead,
Private and Commercial Law. Dr Barnett practised as a barrister for over 30 years,
specialising in Family Law. From 1997 she combined professional practice with academic
research until moving into full time academia in January 2014. Her specialist area of
research for the past 27 years has been domestic abuse and family court proceedings,
including Hague Convention cases and, since 2017, parental alienation. Her wide range of
publications include a literature review for the Ministry of Justice to support their inquiry
into risks of harm in family court proceedings, published in June 2020. She is a member
of the Advisory Group of Rights of Women, the UK lead on the International Strategy Group
of Hague Mothers, a co-director of Right to Equality’s campaign to end the presumption of
contact, and a trustee of Project Lighthouse, which supports mothers who have suffered
child removal. She is currently undertaking a study of domestic abuse and parental
alienation in family court proceedings funded by the BA/Leverhulme Small Projects
Scheme, and an analytical study of England and Wales Hague Convention judgments
funded by Brunel’s Institute of Communities and Society.
LOUISE GODBOLD
Louise Godbold is the executive director of Echo Training, an educational nonprofit that
provides training on trauma and trauma-informed practice. Echo trains a wide variety of
professionals including lawyers, victim services, police officers, journalists, teachers, and
social service providers as well as providing trauma-informed nonviolent parent education.
The educational materials Louise developed for Echo are used all over the world and have
been translated into many different languages. She consults on trauma-informed practice
with clients such as the California Democratic Party and the Albuquerque (New Mexico)
Film Commission. Through the Bard College Berlin and
the Open Society Network of
Colleges, Louise trained teachers working in refugee camps in Bangladesh, Syria, Iraq,
Afghanistan, Palestine, Greece, Brazil, and Eritrea. Recently, she trained the international
FiLiA Hague Mothers team on trauma-informed interviewing. In addition to her role at Echo,
Louise also provides education and support to i
ndividual trauma survivors, including
survivors involved in the #MeToo movement. She was one of the contributors to the Murad
Code, a “Global Code of Conduct for Documenting and Investigating Conflict-Related
Sexual Violence” produced by the Institute for International Criminal Investigations at The
Hague. Her articles on trauma have appeared in publications such as The Smithsonian
Magazine, Pacific Standard, Culturico, Slate, and The Imprint.
JOSIMAR MENDES
Dr Josimar Mendes presently serves as an Associate Researcher at the University of Oxford
(United Kingdom). He holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Sussex (United
Kingdom), with a thesis entitled 'The Decision-Making Process in Child Custody Cases After
Parental Separation: A Cross-Cultural Study Between Brazil and England'. Additionally, he
earned a master's degree in Clinical Psychology and Culture from the University of Brasília
(with a systemic and critical focus on the theme of "parental alienation") and received
specialisation from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (Toronto, Canada). Dr.
Mendes possesses extensive experience in mixed-method research, particularly in areas
such as child custody disputes, allegations of "parental alienation," and the decision-
making process concerning child custody and parental contact after parental separation.
Dr Mendes acts as an Expert Witness in child custody cases in Brazil and has provided
supervision and training focusing on the 'best interest
s principle' for psychosocial
professionals from different Brazilian courts: TJDFT, TJES, TJPA, TJPR, TJRJ, TJRS, TJSC,
and TJSP.
SARAH CALVERT
Sarah Calvert, PHD, Clinical Psychologist, has worked for the New Zealand Family Court
since its inception. She has also worked for many years in various roles for Oranga Tamariki
(NZ’s statutory child welfare organisation). She was an expert witness for the NZ Royal
Commission into Abuse in State Care (2022). She has worked in private practice and as
an internationally recognised researcher in areas such as Child Development and women’s
mental health. In 2018 she was made a Distinguished Scholar of Waikato University in
recognition of her research and her clinical work. She authored a chapter on the value of
psychology in Family Court cases (Research Handbook on International Child Abduction,
Freeman and Taylor, 2023) and has a chapter in press, co-authored with her colleague
Trudy Ake MSW, Cultural Identity:‘Ko au te awa, ko te awa ko au’ - I am the river and the
river is me’ on the impor
tance of identity for child development which will appear
in Children and Young People’s Identities in International Law: Life Events, Law and
Selfhood. Freeman and Taylor (2025). She is a member of the AFCC/OFW Committee
preparing a Bench Book for the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (USA)
on the use of ACES in working in Family Courts.
ANNE MCKECHNIE
Anne McKechnie is an independent consultant forensic and clinical psychologist with the
Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry. Her role there involves development and implementation of
a systemic trauma-informed approach to taking evidence from adults who were abused in
care as children. This approach is also applied to all those coming to give evidence,
including alleged and convicted abusers.
Until 2018, Anne worked for over 30 years with the National Health Service in Scotland,
specialising latterly in the impact and treatment of complex trauma and abuse in female
offenders.
During her career, Anne has served as psychology member of the Scottish Parole Board
and was a commissioner on the Time To Be Heard, the Scottish Government commissioned
pilot forum for survivors of In Care Abuse.
Anne frequently delivers teaching, training and consultation on the impact of trauma at all
levels and has a particular interest in the application of trauma-informed working and
leadership within legal organisations. In recent years, she has been consulted by NHS
Education Scotland in the development of the Justice Framework and is involved in the
delivery of trauma training to Judicial Officers in Scotland. This training is also to be
delivered to the European Judges Training Network later this year.
ALEISHA EBRAHIMI
Aleisha Ebrahimi joined the Faculty of Laws in September 2018. Her PhD research focuses
on gender equality as a matter of international human rights law, with a focus on structural
inequality, domestic abuse and economic violence. Aleisha’s doctoral research combines
doctrinal and empirical methodologies, in order to consider the effect of law on society. In
September 2022, Aleisha was appointed as Senior Policy Advisor to the Domestic Abuse
Commissioner for England and Wales. In March 2023, she was invited by the Women and
Equalities Select Committee to act as an academic expert for a roundtable on International
Obligations & Violence Against Women and Girls. As part of her broader work on gender,
Aleisha researches and writes on the complexities of coercive control, post-separation
abuse and the intersection between the rights of women and children. Her research on
gender and law is supported by a UCL Faculty of Laws Research Scholarship, the UCL
Joseph Hume Scholarship and the prestigious Modern Law Review Scholarship (awarded
for both 2019-2020 and 2020-2021).
Aleisha is a Family Law Associate Lecturer (Teaching) at UCL’s Faculty of Laws and a
Lecturer at Sciences Po in Paris, France where she is convenor for her module ‘Gender and
International Human Rights Law’. As part of this module, Aleisha delivers content on
maternal rights, domestic violence, the role of UN human rights treaties and women in
times of war. She delivers specialist teaching on the causes and consequences of rape,
coercive control and economic violence.
She holds an LLB in European Law, having studied in both France, for a Licence en Droit
Européen, and the UK. She also holds an LLM in Transnational Law (Distinction) from
King’s College London. Aleisha was Called to the Bar as a Lord Lowry scholar and is a
member of the Honourable Society of Middle Temple. Prior to the civil service and
academia, Aleisha was at Amnesty International and worked on the United Nations 2015
Sustainable Development Goals, and before this was at the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees in London during the peak of the Syrian conflict in 2013.
As part of pro bono efforts, Aleisha is on the Executive Committee of Lawyers for
Palestinian Human Rights and is head of the Student Protection Project. She regularly acts
as lead draft for submissions to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention,
the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights Defenders and
the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture. Her work for Lawyers for Palestinian
Human Rights has been relied upon and referred to by the United Nations Human Rights
Council and Human Rights Watch.
Aleisha is also on the Board of Trustees for the Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights
Organisation and is elected governor for a primary school in north east London.She is
regularly asked to speak at conferences, webinars and radio shows about women’s rights
and international human rights law, as well as delivering guest lectures internationally.
Aleisha is an advocate for social mobility and diverse representation in law. She mentors
several junior lawyers.
SESSION 3
ROZ OSBORNE
Roz Osborne is the founder and CEO of GlobalARRK, a registered UK charity supporting
parents who are ‘stuck’ in a foreign country and unable to return to live in the country they
consider home with their children after a relationship breakdown abroad.
Roz founded the organisation in 2012 after a personal experience as a stuck parent in
Portugal. She has overseen the growth of the charity which registered in 2016 and now
supports 300 new families each year. GlobalARRK offers a wide range of support services
including a call back helpline; legal network; legal clinic; peer support groups; domestic
abuse recovery courses and befriending calls. In addition, Roz has worked to shine a light
onto this hidden problem through supporting research, media work, lobbying and public
facing campaigns including the #ProtectHagueVictims campaign.
As well as leading GlobalARRK, Roz is a Trustee for the charity ‘Bath Welcomes Refugees’
which supports refugees with housing, language classes and social integration. Roz is also
a keen violinist and leads a local string orchestra in Bath. Previously she has worked as
the Executive Officer of VOICES, a local charity providing recovery support and specialising
in Lived Experience consultation for survivors of Domestic Abuse.
RUTH DINEEN
Ruth Dineen is a FiLiA volunteer and the coordinator of the FiLiA Hague Mothers' project.
She is also one of the co-founders of Merched Cymru, a grassroots group of women from
across Wales working to protect and promote the rights of women and girls. Ruth co-
founded the Co-
production Network for Wales, based on Edgar Kahn’s principles of
collectivism and social justice, and is a co-production trainer and facilitator. She was
previously Head of Department of Creative Communications at Cardiff Metropolitan
University.
JULIANA SANTOS WAHLGREN
Juliana Santos Wahlgren is the Founding Director of Revibra Europe. She is a lawyer with
expertise in Family Law,Social rights, Gender-based Violence and anti-discrimination at
the Brazilian, EU and Member States levels. She has extensively covered court cases
related to International Child Abduction. She is also an expert on Strategic Litigationat
the European Court of Human Rights. In November 2020, she was appointed to the
European Commission'sExpert Group on Migration, Integration and Asylum. She has more
than 24 years of experience in Advocacy, Policy-Making and International Strategic
Cooperation with Civil Society Organisations.
JANAÍNA ALBUQUERQUE
Janaína Albuquerque is a dual-
qualified lawyer practising in Brazil and Portugal. She
specializes in high-complexity cross-
border family issues, particularly those involving
children and domestic violence. In cases where Brazil has jurisdiction, Janaína leads a
multinational team spanning three countries. In cases under Portuguese jurisdiction, she
works as an of counsel for CCAA | Sociedade de Advogados in Lisbon. Janaína is also a
trained international family mediator and has been registered with MiKK e.V. since 2023.
She graduated from the University of Brasília and earned a Master's degree from the
University of Lisbon. During her post-
graduate studies, Janaína attended the Hague
Academy of International Law and completed a research program at the University of Ghent
through an Erasmus scholarship. She continues to contribute to academia as an external
expert advisor at the Center for the Study of Gender, Family, and the Law at the NOVA
School of Law.
Janaína’s diverse career includes previous roles at the Brazilian Ministries of Foreign
Affairs and Human Rights, as well as the Hague Conference on Private International Law
(HCCH). She has been a Legal Coordinator at REVIBRA Europe (European Network of
Support to Brazilian Victims of Domestic and Gender-based Violence) since 2021. As its
representative, she has attended the 68th Meeting of the Commission on the Status of
Women at the United Nations headquarters in New York and presented oral arguments as
an amicus curiae to the Brazilian Supreme Court in an action regarding the interpretation
of the 1980 HCCH Convention on international child abduction.
SESSION 4
FREIA CARLTON
Freia Carlton BA (Hons Psych), LLB is Associate Director, Mediation at Victoria Legal Aid in
Australia and leads the state-wide Family Dispute Resolution Service. Freia is a nationally
accredited mediator and family dispute resolution practitioner. She is an accredited
children’s law specialist with previous experience as an Independent Children’s Lawyer in
Australian parenting disputes involving high risk issues.
In 2012, following specialist
training with MiKK, Freia established the Hague Mediation Program at Victoria Legal
Aid. This is a co-
mediation model operating alongside Hague child abduction court
proceedings. Male and female mediators with professional backgrounds that cover law
and social science facilitate sessions with parents (and their lawyers) and an Independent
Children’s Lawyer, to assist in resolving Hague return issues (and in some cases longer
term parenting issues). Careful risk assessment is conducted in every case, to assess if
and how mediation may be delivered safely. In assessing family violence risks and capacity
to mediate, the service applies the MARAM Framework (a family violence system-wide
response in Victoria, Australia). Freia values collaboration across courts and services and
served on the Board of International Social Service Australia from 2013 to 2021.
NOELLE HUNTER
Dr. Noelle Hunter is a clinical assistant professor of political science in the University of
Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) Department of Philosophy and Political Science. She is the
founding director of the
International Child Abduction Prevention and Research Office (ICAPRO) at UAH.
Dr. Hunter is a founding partner of the Coalition to End International Parental Child
Abduction and president emeritus and co-founder of iStand Parent Network Inc, an NGO
which empowers parents to reunite with their abducted children and facilitates
international collaborations to prevent and resolve this crime against children and families.
Dr. Hunter co-founded iStand Parent Network after successfully recovering her daughter
from abduction to Mali in 2014. She is a contributing author in the U.S. Department of
Justice publication, When Your Child Is Missing: A Family Survival Guide. Dr. Hunter is a
RAND Corporation public policy fellow, and has served in distinguished roles in state and
federal government, including a gubernatorial appointment as the executive director of the
Kentucky Office of Highway Safety and as an intern for U.S. Senator John D. Rockefeller IV.
She earned her PhD from West Virginia University in 2005, and holds an MPA and BA in
journalism from Ohio University.
ANA QUINTELLA
Ana Quintella is the lead counselor of Learn4life High Schools, a network of nonprofit
alternative high schools in San Diego, CA, serving youth who for various reasons benefit
from
a non-traditional, personalized, flexible and needs-centered high school programme. Their
students have often experienced homelessness, foster care or other challenging familial
arrangements. She has worked in therapeutic youth counseling settings for 22 years. She
holds a master's degree in
counseling and a pupil personnel services credential and leads the trauma-informed
learning
community at Learn4life. Most recently, Ms. Quintella was the lead counselor at iStand
Parent Network's 2023 Youth Survivor Camp.
Ms. Quintella was abducted as a child in 1986 from Brazil by her mother and spent
subsequent years in hiding. Those formative experiences led her to choose a career
helping youth who experienced trauma.
In her free time, Ms. Quintella enjoys singing and serving with her Rotary Club. She has a
son and a daughter.
MICHELLE FERNANDO
Dr Michelle Fernando
is a family law lecturer and academic at the University of South
Australia who researches how the voices of children can be strengthened in family law
proceedings, including in cases involving the Hague Convention on International Child
Abduction. Dr Fernando researches the extent to which various methods of hearing from
children can facilitate their participation and uphold children’s right to be heard. She has
also investigated how the ‘children’s objection exception’ to mandatory return in Hague
cases is interpreted and applied in different jurisdictions. In 2023 Dr Fernando’s research
was instrumental in the repeal of s 111B(1B) of the Australian Family Law Act, which
required that children’s objections show a ‘strength of feeling beyond the mere expression
of a preference or of ordinary wishes’ before they could be taken into account. Michelle is
a co-author of Family Law in Australia (10
th
Ed, LexisNexis 2021).
STEPHANIE BRANDT
Stephanie Brandt MD is a board-certified adult and child psychiatrist in private practice in
Manhattan. She has over 40 years of experience in the clinical diagnosis and treatment of
adults, children, and their families before, during and after complex child focused litigation.
Her specialty is in childhood trauma syndromes.
She is a respected forensic expert witness in domestic and international litigation, often
appointed where domestic violence, child maltreatment and parental alienation is
alleged.
These are cases where the differential diagnosis of PTSD, malingering,
narcissism, and psychosis can be essential. She has testified in multiple federal Hague
Convention cases. As Ethics Chair at NYPSI she has extensive knowledge of the legal and
ethical aspects of her profession. She is an assistant professor at Weill Cornell New York
Presbyterian Hospital, and a faculty member at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute. She
is a member of AACAP, APSAC, the AFCC, the Shera Research Group, and is on the
international strategy group of The Hague Mothers Legacy Project.
Dr. Brandt frequently presents and is widely published on the assessment and treatment
of childhood traumatic syndromes due to various causes including medical illness, sex
trafficking, abuse, and neglect.
KERRI PHILLIPS
Kerri Phillips is an Independent Children’s Lawyer and an Accredited Specialist in
Children’s Law, based in Sydney, Australia. As the lead lawyer within Legal Aid NSW’s
Appeals and Complex Litigation Unit, Kerri represents children in complex family law, child
protection and adoption proceedings, including matters before the High Court of Australia.
Her role sees her regularly representing children in Hague return proceedings before the
Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. Kerri also represents parents in international
parenting matters, including child abduction matters involving non-Hague Convention
States.
Kerri has broad professional experience, having worked as a lawyer and social worker in
the area of child protection for several local authorities in the United Kingdom, as an
Associate to the Chief Judge of the Family Court of Western Australia, and as a lawyer
acting on behalf of the State of NSW
MARTINA ERB-KLÜNEMANN
See above
SESSION 5
FREIA CARLTON
See above
CRAIG SCHNEIDER
Craig Schneider is an attorney of 32 years’ experience, a qualified and accredited mediator
of 25 years and parenting co-ordinator, is a past co-
chairperson of FAMAC (Family
Mediation Association of the Cape). He has trained mediators and parenting co-ordinators
throughout South Africa and Western Australia been instrumental in promoting mediation
and parenting co-ordination throughout South. He has appeared on regular radio talk
shows and was a participating designated expert of the Guide to Good Practice under the
Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child
Abduction. Craig has conducted mediation in international child abduction matters for the
South African Central Authority. Craig has presented papers at conferences both nationally
and internationally on The Children’s Act, Mediation, Parenting Coordination, mediation in
Hague Convention matters, including Europe, United Kingdom and Australia. He is a
participating expert in the South African Family Law Reform Issu
e Paper relating to
mediation, alternative dispute resolution and Parenting Co-
ordination. He works in a
holistic manner prioritising the best interests of the children and assisting parents in
transitioning towards a healthy co-parenting relationship post-
divorce. He utilizes a
‘toolbox’ approach to mediation.
VALENTINA SHAKNES
Valentina Shaknes is a founding partner at Krauss Shaknes Tallentire & Messeri LLP, a
boutique matrimonial law firm located in New York City.
Valentina’s practice is dedicated exclusively to matrimonial and family law. For nearly 20
years, she has represented clients in a wide variety of complex family law matters,
including international child custody matters and international child abduction disputes
arising under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.
Valentina is a frequent expert source for the media on topics related to matrimonial and
family law, and she has also written and presented extensively on proceedings under the
Hague Convention. Among other cases, in 2017, Valentina won a landmark ruling in Davies
v. Davies, in which a United States Federal Court for the first time recognized a grave risk
of harm defense based solely on psychological abuse. In 2022, Valentina submitted an
amicus brief to the Supreme Court on behalf of a network of 88 Italian Organizations
Advocating for Victims of Domestic Violence in the matter of Golan v. Saada.
Valentina is an active certified mediator and a certified parenting coordinator. She firmly
believes that settlement-based approach is the best path for most families. Whenever
possible, Valentina seeks alternatives to litigation and advocates for her clients in securing
out-of-
court resolutions through mediation, collaborative law, and other forms of
alternative dispute resolution.
Valentina and her firm have been ranked by Chambers in 2021-2023, and Valentina has
been recognized as a Best Lawyer for Family Law in New York, New York Super Lawyer in
Family Law, Distinguished Leader by the New York Law Journal, and Notable Woman in
Law by Crain’s New York Business.
SESSION 6
STEPHEN COBB
Mr Justice Stephen Cobb was appointed to the High Court Bench (Family Division), England
and Wales, in January 2013; he sits also as a Judge of the Court of Protection and in the
Administrative Court. He has delivered judgments across the broad spectrum of family
law and the Court of Protection, and has sat as an appeal judge both in the High Court and
in the Court of Appeal. During his judicial career, he has chaired the President’s Private
Law Working Group (considering law reform for family disputes); in that capacity he has
twice been responsible for drafting amendments to the Practice Direction (12J) ‘Child
Arrangements, and contact orders: Domestic Abuse and Harm’. He was the judicial
member of the Ministry of Justice ‘Voice of the Child’ Working Group (2015), and in 2019-
2020 was the judicial member of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) ‘Harm Panel’ (‘Assessing
Risk of Harm to Children in Private Law Children cases’). He is currently the Chair of the
Cross-Jurisdictional Judicial Advisory Panel on Access to Justice (2020-date). He is a
Consultant Editor of the Family Law Reports, and Family Law Journal, and has written and
lectured on family law and Court of Protection issues in the UK and abroad.
GUILHERME CALMON
NOGUEIRA DA GAMA
Guilherme Calmon Nogueira da Gama is Judge and President of the Federal Regional Court
of the 2nd Region located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Liaison Judge for the 1980 Hague Convention
National Coordinator of the Brazilian Network of Liaison Judges
Professor of Civil Law at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Master's and Doctorate in Civil Law from the State University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Counsellor of the Federal Justice Council in Brazil
Former Counsellor of the National Council of Justice in Brazil
MARTINA ERB-KLÜNEMANN
See above
STEVEN A MAJIEDT
Justice Steven A Majiedt
Professional history
• Advocate, Cape Bar, Cape Town (1984-1996).
• Chief State Law Adviser, Northern Cape Province in the Office of the Premier,
Kimberley (1997 - 1999).
• Advocate, Northern Cape Society of Advocates, Kimberley (2000).
• Judge of the High Court, Northern Cape Division, Kimberley (May 2000 - November
2010).
• Judge of Appeal, Supreme Court of Appeal, Bloemfontein (1 December 2010 –
September 2019).
• Justice of the Constitutional Court, Johannesburg (October 2019 to present).
Other activities
• Former Chairperson of the South African Rules Board for Courts of Law.
• Former Council Member, South African Judicial Education Institute (SAJEI).
• Former Council Member, Hugo de Groot Society, University of Pretoria.
• Chancellor, Sol Plaatje University, Kimberley (2015 to present).
• Honorary Professor of Law, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town (2021 to
present).
SESSION 7
COSTANZA HONORATI
Costanza Honorati is a Professor of European Union Law at the Milano-Bicocca University
in Italy, where she is also chair of EU Private International Law and, in the past, for Legal
Procedure of the CJEU. She was previously a Professor in International Law and has been
a Visiting Scholar at several institutions within and outside the EU. With a strong expertise
in the field of Private International Law, her research interests primarily focus on
International Family Law. She has published extensively in several fields of PIL and lectures
regularly in national and international venues. Costanza was a member of the Expert Group
assisting the EU Commission on the Recast of the Brussels IIa Regulation (2015), she then
participated in the EU Council’s Working Group for the Regulation’s final draft (2018-
2019); she was Chair of the EJN Working Group on a Guide on the Regulation on
Maintenance Obligations (2019-2022). She attended the 8th SC on the 1980 and 1996
Hague Conventions as an observer on behalf of EAPIL(European Association of Private
International Law). She published, among others, Domestic Violence and Parental Child
Abduction: The Protection of Abducting Mothers in Return Proceedings (with K.Trimmings,
A.Dutta, M.Zupan), 2022; ‘Protecting Mothers against Domestic Violence in the Context of
International Child Abduction: Between Golan v Saada and Brussels II-ter EU Regulation’,
Laws (2023); Brussels IIter: Cross-border Marriage Dissolution, Parental Responsibility
Disputes and Child Abduction in the EU (with N.Lowe, M.Hellner), 2024.
MARI NAGATA
Mari Nagata is a professor at Osaka University's Graduate School of Law and Politics. She
specializes in international private law, family law, and conflict resolution. Professor
Nagata has made contributions to the field of private international law, mainly focusing on
international family law, including international child abduction, and the complexities of
cross-border disputes, such as cross-border family mediation.
Professor Nagata earned her Bachelor's and master’s degrees in law from Osaka University
and completed her Ph.D. at Osaka University.
She has participated in various international collaborations and conferences, sharing her
insights on the evolution of legal systems in Japan and their influence on neighboring
countries. Her recent works explore new developments in Japanese family law and its
interaction with international legal standards.
Major recent Publications:
In Japanese
Co-authored textbooks on Conflict of Laws, Private International Law, International Civil
Procedures, and International Transaction Law
In English
“CURRENT STATUS AND ISSUES OF IMPLEMENTING THE HAGUE CHILD ABDUCTION
CONVENTION IN JAPAN” JAPANESE YEARBOOK OF INTERNATIONAL LAW Vol. 63 (2020),
pp.212-233
“Some Recent Issues in Family Law and International Family Law in Japan,” in Olivier
Gaillard and Krista Kadakavukaren Schaefer eds., PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW IN EAST
ASIA, pp.153-168, (2023, HART)
JANAÍNA ALBUQUERQUE
See above
ADRIENNE BARNETT
See above
BARATANG CONSTANCE
MOCUMIE
See above
ANDREW MOYLAN
Sir Andrew Moylan was called to the Bar (Inner Temple) in 1978. He practised as a
barrister in all areas of family law and from 1997 to 2000 was Junior Counsel to the
Queen’s Proctor (counsel to the Government in family law). He was appointed as a Queen’s
Counsel in 2000, a Recorder (a deputy judge in the civil and criminal courts) in 2002, and
a Deputy High Court Judge in 2004.
In 2007 he was appointed a High Court Judge assigned to the Family Division. He was
Family Division Liaison Judge for the North Eastern Circuit (with administrative
responsibility for family justice) from 2008 to 2015. He became an International Hague
Network Judge for England and Wales in 2012.
He was appointed to the Court of Appeal in March 2017 and Head of International Family
Justice for England and Wales in October 2017.
SESSION 8a
NOELLE HUNTER
See above
JULIANA SANTOS WAHLGREN
See above
ROZ OSBORNE
See above
JOHN GOMEZ
John Gomez is from New York City. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in physical
sciences from Harvard University and a master’s degree from John F Kennedy University
in interdisciplinary consciousness studies. He has lived in Japan since January 1995. He
has worked on the parental child abduction issue involving children taken within or to
Japan since 2008. This includes working on the issue in Washington, DC appealing to the
US Department of State and US Congress. In 2013, Kizuna Child-Parent Reunion was
established as an NGO registered in Tokyo. He is a founding Director and has served as
Chairperson since its inception. The mission of Kizuna Child-Parent Reunion is to protect
the human rights of children and their right to access both parents. With several parents
and officials, they brought Japan to ratify and implement the 1980 Hague Convention on
the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Two talks were given to the EU Delegation
to Japan. He attended the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child review of
Japan in Geneva. He has listened to hundreds of parents involved in parental child
abduction cases. Kizuna has appeared in the news in at least nine languages.
https://www.kizuna-cpr.org/directors
ELENI BAILEY
Eleni Bailey holds a Bachelor of Arts (Social Inquiry), a Bachelor of Laws, a Graduate
Certificate in Legal Practice, a Masters of Social Work, and a Graduate Certificate in Family
Dispute Resolution. Since 2015, Eleni has been a dedicated Social Worker, Child
Consult
ant, and Family Mediator at International Social Service (ISS) Australia. She
currently coordinates the International Family Mediation service and serves as a Senior
Social Worker in the International Parental Child Abduction team, where she plays a crucial
role in supporting families in challenging cross-border situations.
Before joining ISS Australia, Eleni worked in various roles within the private sector and
state and federal government departments, enriching her with a diverse professional
perspective. She has previously worked as an Investigation and Conciliation Officer at the
Australian Human Rights Commission and in the Dispute Resolution team at the Victorian
Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission giving her a deep understanding of
human rights law and social justice issues.
Committed to supporting families affected by cross-border separation, Eleni uses her
social work and family mediation expertise to provide child-focused and evidence-informed
comprehensive assistance. Her leadership and dedication continue to drive the mission of
ISS Australia forward.
SESSION 8b
SEAN FACKRELL
Sean Fackrell
is a British national, who obtained a shared care order but whose two
children were subsequently abducted. Allegations of domestic violence were raised but not
evidenced. A return order was issued but has not been executed to this day, leading to
serious issues of alienation.
SESSION 9
LUKE BROWN
Luke Brown
is Assistant Secretary, International Cooperation, within the Australian
Government Attorney-General’s Department. In this role he oversees the Australian Central
Authority for the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction
(th
e Convention). A key priority for Mr Brown over the last 12 months has been the
implementation of Australian Government measures totalling $18.4 million to improve the
safe implantation of the Convention, particularly for women and children experiencing
domestic and family violence. Mr Brown has held a number of senior executive roles across
the Australian Government, including Chief of Staff to the National Bushfire Recovery
Agency following the devastating 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires in Australia. He has a
Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Commerce from the Australian National University and
is an admitted Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital
Territory.
ROZ OSBORNE
See above
RUTH LAMONT
Dr Ruth Lamont is a Reader in Family and Child Law at the School of Law, University of
Manchester, UK.
Ruth's research focuses on the law relating to the family and children with a particular
focus on the law relating to child welfare and the cross-border context. Her PhD examined
EU law relating to international child abduction and she has researched extensively into
the impact of European and international law on the regulation of cross-border family life.
Her recent work has examined the protection of children at risk in a cross-national context,
considering particularly the role of international law in managing cross-
national child
protection proceedings. In 2016, she gave evidence to the House of Commons Justice
Select Committee on the impact of Brexit on family law. She is a trustee of the charity
GlobalARRK which seeks to help parents involved in cross-border disputes over children
and has worked on research projects to support these families.
She was co-investigation on the ESRC-funded project 'Victims' Access to Justice through
the English Criminal Trial, 1675-
present' (http://esrcvictims.org/) where she provided
expertise in relation to the legal management of prosecutions and focused on the role of
child victims of crime. With Prof. Pam Cox and Prof. Maurice Sunkin, she worked with the
Office of the Victims' Commissioner on a review of the constitutional powers of the
Commissioner to contribute to the development of legislation on the interests of victims.
This research has contributed to the debates and development of the law in the Victims
and Prisoners Act 2024.
Ruth is an editor for the Child and Family Law Quarterly.
She is the editor of the
textbook, Family Law, (OUP).
MARTIN STROUS
Dr Martin Strous is registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa as an
educational psychologist, and with the British Psychological Society as a chartered
psychologist specialising in psychotherapy. He has lectured, supervised, and mentored
students at the University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg), authored a book on racial
sensitivity and multicultural training for psychologists, and served as an associate editor
of the South African Journal of Psychology.
Martin is the founder and an Honorary Life Member of the Educational Psychology
Association of South Africa, where he is involved in scope of practice advocacy and ethics.
He is also a peer-elected member of the psychology panel for Discovery Health, South
Africa’s largest private medical scheme. He was a member of the Forensic Task Team,
established by the Health Professions Council of South Africa’s Professional Board for
Psychology to investigate the feasibility of opening forensic psychology as a registration
category. In his private practice, he focuses on psychotherapy, parenting coordination,
forensic assessment of care and contact, and reviews of forensic reports. He has authored
three papers on relocation matters, with the most recent one, on international relocation
disputes and cultural bias, published in The International Journal of Children's Rights.
JOY BRERETON
Joy Brereton KC is a specialist children practitioner whose work is predominantly in the
High Court and Central London. She has particular expertise in complex children matters
encompassing both private and public law proceedings. She is regularly involved in cases
concerning domestic abuse, non-accidental injury, sexual abuse, physical and emotional
abuse of children acting for all parties.
In addition she is a specialist in private law matters where there are protracted and highly
contentious disputes and she is particularly specialist in the international relocation and
movement of children including adoption.
Joy is ranked as a leading children law silk across the law directories and she was awarded
the Legal 500 Junior Barrister of the Year two years running in 2019 & 2020.
LIINA NAABER-KIVISOO
Liina Naaber-Kivisoo is a judge and the president of the court of Viru County Court in
Estonia. She is specialized to cases involving children (custody questions, access rights
and child abduction). Before becoming a judge she used to be an attorney and she worked
a short period in the European Commission´s legal service.
SESSION 10
JEFFREY L. EDLESON
Jeffrey L. Edleson, PhD
, is a Distinguished Professor of the Graduate School at the
University of California, Berkeley. Edleson is ranked as one of the world’s top five scholars
on domestic violence and a leading authority on children exposed to domestic violence. He
has published over 130 articles and 12 books on domestic violence, group work, and
program evaluation. Since the late 1990s, Prof. Edleson has studied Hague Convention
cases in which adult-to-adult domestic violence is alleged. He co-authored, with Prof. Taryn
Lindhorst, the award-winning book Battered Women, Their Children, and International
Law: The Unintended Consequences of the Hague Child Abduction Convention (2012,
Northeastern University Press) based on their federally funded study of Hague Convention
petitions filed in U.S. courts. More information on Prof. Edleson can be found at
jedleson.com.
MIRANDA KAYE
Miranda Kaye is an Associate Professor the Law Faculty at the University of Technology
Sydney whose area of expertise lies in family law. Her research is interdisciplinary, drawing
on socio-legal research methods to investigate real world impacts of family law principles
and procedures. Miranda has a proven track-record in using qualitative research methods
to make recommendations for improved access to justice. For example, with UTS
colleagues Jane Wangmann and Tracey Booth, Miranda completed a study of the effects
of self-representation in the Family Law Court in matters involving allegations of family
violence. Funded by the Australian National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety
(ANROWS) the research made a series of recommendations to improve the experiences
and safety of self-
represented litigants in such proceedings. The final report won an
Australian Legal Research Award for a Non-Traditional Output. Prior to joining UTS, Miranda
studied law at Cambridge and Oxford and was a senior lecturer at the University of Sydney.
She also brings to the faculty her experience in the public service (Law Commission of
England and Wales) and as a practicing solicitor (family law in the United Kingdom).
ADRIENNE BARNETT
See above
COSTANZA HONORATI
See above
JULIANA SANTOS WAHLGREN
See above
CLEMENT MARUMOAGAE
Clement Marumoagae is a Professor of law at the University of the Witwatersrand, School
of law specialising in pension law, insolvency law, and family law. He is also a practising
attorney at Marumoagae Attorneys
SESSION 11
CAGNEY JOHN MUSI
Judge Cagney John Musi has obtained the following tertiary qualifications at the University
of the Western Cape: Diploma Iuris, BA (law), BA (HONS), LLB. He obtained an LLM degree
at the University of Cape Town. He is a non-practising admitted attorney of the High Court
of South Africa.
He has worked as a Prosecutor, Magistrate and Regional Magistrate. During 2004 he was
appointed as an acting Judge in the Northern Cape High Court: Kimberley. On 1 June 2005
he was appointed as a Judge of the Free State High Court: Bloemfontein. He is a Judge of
the Labour Appeal Court and has served as an Acting Judge of the Labour Court. He is also
an Acting Judge of the High Court of Lesotho and has served in that Country’s Labour
Appeal Court, Constitutional Court and Commercial Court. Judge Musi has acted in the
Constitutional Court of South Africa and in the Supreme Court of Appeal.
He was the President of the Judicial Officer’s Association of South Africa. He was one of
the Vice Presidents of the International Association of Judges and the President of the
African Regional Group of the International Association of Judges. He was also the
Chairperson of the Commission for the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers.
He was a board member of the Law, Race and Gender Institute at the University of Cape
Town. As a magistrate and regional magistrate he trained South African Magistrates on
domestic violence and maintenance issues, under the auspices of the Law, Race and
Gender unit at the UCT. He later became a board member of this Unit.
He was a member of the Western Cape Appointment Committee for Magistrates. He also
served as a board member of the South Africa Canada Justice Linkage Project.
He was invited by The Global Judicial Integrity Network to be part of an Expert Group
Meeting on “Judges’ use of social media” in Vienna Austria during November 2018.
He is a board member of the South African Judicial Education Institute’s (SAJEI) and a
member of its Curriculum Planning & Development Committee as well as the Managing
Editor of South African Judicial Education Journal (SAJEJ). He is also a member of the
Advisory Board of the Free State Centre for Human Rights at the University of the Free
State.
He participated in the UFS 101 programme at the University of the Free State. He has
trained Magistrates and still trains South African and SADC Judges on various legal issues.
He was appointed in January 2017 as the Deputy Judge President of the Free State High
Court: Bloemfontein. During December 2018 he was appointed as the Judge President of
the Free State High Court: Bloemfontein.
AMY C. LAZARO-JAVIER
Justice Amy C. Lazaro-Javier is the 182
nd
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the
Philippines.
She serves as the current Chairperson of the Committee on Family Courts and Juvenile
Concerns and also the Co-Chair of the Council of ASEAN Chief Justices Working Group on
Cross-Border Disputes Involving Children. In addition, she is the President of the Philippine
Women Judges Association and Vice-
President of International Association of Women
Judges. She also became the Chairperson of the Sub-Committee on the Revision of the
Code of Professional Responsibility, and Committee on Gender Responsiveness in the
Judiciary.
She initiated the crafting of the Rule on International Child Abduction which promotes
primarily the best interest of children with interracial parents. The Rule aims to protect
children from the deleterious effects of wrongful removal or retention across international
boundaries. The Rule provides an expeditious procedure designed to bring about the
prompt return of children to the state or country of their habitual residence, subject to
certain exceptional circumstances when such wrongful removal or retention of the child is
not in his/her best interest.
Through the recommendation of Justice Lazaro-
Javier, the Supreme Court issued a
Resolution approving the: (1) amended Guidelines to validate compliance with the
jurisdictional requirements in petitions for declaration of absolute nullity of marriage,
annulment of voidable marriage, and legal separation; and (2) amendments to Section 4
of A.M. No. 02-11-10-SC and Section 2(c) of A.M. No. 02-11-11-
SC, or the Rule on
Declaration of Absolute Nullity of Void Marriages and Annulment of Voidable Marriages and
Rule on Legal Separation, respectively.
The Guidelines and the Amendments to the Rules address the unique dispositions of non-
resident Filipinos, like Overseas Filipino Workers, by allowing them to submit other
supporting documents in lieu of regular supporting documents proving habitual residence
in the Philippines. Previously, the rules only allowed the covered cases to be filed in the
place of actual residence of either the plaintiff or the respondents, thereby precluding non-
resident Filipinos from filing the same. As a result of the amendments, filing Petitions for
Declaration of Nullity, Annulment, and Legal Separation to non-resident Filipinos became
more accessible for non-resident Filipinos.
CHRISTOPHE BERNASCONI
See above
