跨國擅帶子女事件中之子女最佳利益

The Best Interests of the Child in International Child Abduction Cases

憲法法庭111年憲判字第8號判決，對跨國擅帶子女問題表示極為重要的見解。憲法法庭判決一方面認為，我國法院處理跨國擅帶子女事件時，應綜合衡量一切對未成年子女有影響之有利或不利之因素以判斷子女最佳利益。此見解看似與海牙誘拐公約所定實體裁判禁止原則有重大出入。此外，本件判決認為子女意願為判斷子女最佳利益的極重要因素，惟在各國法院實務在跨國擅帶子女事件的處理上，對於子女意願的審酌一般採取相當謹慎的態度，在本件情形是否應重視子女意願，亦有審慎檢討的必要。有鑑於本件憲法法庭判決的重要意義，本文試圖剖析海牙誘拐公約有關子女最佳利益的思維模式，並參考各國法院的具體實踐，從比較法觀點評析我國憲法法庭判決的意義與課題。

The Taiwan Constitutional Court’s Judgment 111-Hsien-Pan-8 of 2022 expressed a critical view on the issue of international child abduction. On the one hand, the Constitutional Court held that the courts should weigh all factors affecting the abducted child, both favorable and unfavorable, to determine the best interests of the child when dealing with the case of international child abduction. This view seems to differ significantly from the Hague Abduction Convention, which prohibits the Contracting State from deciding on the merits of custody rights. Furthermore, the Constitutional Court places significant emphasis on the child’s wishes as a crucial factor in determining the child’s best interests. However, in the practice of courts in various countries dealing with cases of international child abduction, the courts generally take a rather cautious approach when considering the child’s wishes. Consequently, it is necessary to carefully review whether the child’s wishes should be emphasized in international child abduction cases. In light of the significance of the Constitutional Court’s judgment, this article attempts to analyze the Hague Abduction Convention’s perspective on the best interests of the child, and to analyze the significance and issues of the Constitutional Court’s judgment from a comparative law perspective, with reference to the practices of the courts of the contracting states.