Bromley v Bromley, 30 F.Supp.2d 857 (E. D. Pennsylvania, 1988)

In Bromley v Bromley, 30 F.Supp.2d 857 (E. D. Pennsylvania, 1988), according to the divorce decree, Respondent had legal custody of the children, while Petitioner had visitation rights during weekends, summers and holidays. Respondent had sole custody of the children. After the divorce, the Petitioner moved to England and the Respondent moved to Pennsylvania. According to the Petitioner, he has repeatedly been denied access to his children, including by telephone. The court held that it does not have the authority to enforce the rights of access of the Petitioner under the Convention because there is no remedy under the Convention for obstacles to rights of access absent a "wrongful" removal of a child. Article 21 simply states that the promotion of effective rights of access may be effectuated by application to the "Central Authorities," but does not provide the courts with independent authority to remedy such a situation.

Since the Respondent already has legal custody of the children and has neither "wrongfully" removed nor retained them from the country of their habitual residence, there is no cause of action under the Convention. The proper jurisdiction for this action is a state court that has the full authority to enforce and modify the original Texas divorce decree.