Government officials, lawyers and academics held a meeting Wednesday to begin preparations for Japan to join an international treaty that sets procedures for settling cross-border child custody disputes.

In line with the government’s decision in May to sign the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, officials from ministries and experts on the issue discussed specific functions of a central body to be established under the Foreign Ministry.

The central body is required to locate children wrongfully removed or retained by one parent and secure their “voluntary return” in response to requests by the other parent. In drafting domestic legislation to endorse the pact, the government needs to stipulate the functions of the central body.

At the outset of the meeting, Parliamentary Vice Foreign Minister Ikuo Yamahana called on participants to identify concrete functions for the central body and problems that need to be resolved for the body to properly function.

“I expect you to have a significant exchange of opinions so that the government can create a system to serve the welfare of the child,” he said.

Separately, a Justice Ministry panel earlier this month began deliberations on judicial procedures for the return of a child “abducted” by a parent under the Hague Convention, with an eye to compiling a report next February.

The envisioned legislation would indicate that children will not have to be returned when the parent has fled from an abusive spouse or could face criminal prosecution in his or her country of habitual residence.

The Justice Ministry’s Legislative Council will meet twice monthly and examine overseas cases to determine which instances should be considered as exceptions to the return of a child.

According to the pact, children will not be returned only when there is “a grave risk that his or her return would expose the child to physical or psychological harm or otherwise place the child in an intolerable situation.” It also fails to stipulate specific conditions.

Japan has been urged by other countries to join the treaty at an early date to deal with cross-border child custody disputes as a result of failed international marriages.