CIS countries to enforce child support rulings across borders

Court orders on child support for underage children will be mutually recognised and enforced across the Commonwealth of Independent States, limiting the ability of non-paying parents from Azerbaijan to evade obligations by moving to Russia.

Russia’s State Duma has ratified amendments to the 2002 Chisinau Convention and the 1993 Minsk Convention on legal assistance in civil, family and criminal matters. The documents were submitted to parliament earlier this month by President Vladimir Putin.

Under the changes, claimants will be able to apply to courts in another CIS country to recognise and enforce child support orders, provided the rulings have entered into legal force and the debtor has been duly notified. Certified translations of the documents will be required.

Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are parties to the Chisinau Convention, while the Minsk Convention also includes Turkmenistan, Georgia and Moldova.

N.Tebrizli