The Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance signed in Hague on November 23, 2007 was approved by the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated September 30, 2022.

The purpose of the 2007 Hague Convention is to establish effective mechanisms for child support and family maintenance. For this, the following means are defined in the Convention:

- establishment of a comprehensive system of cooperation between the participating states;

             - the creation of favorable opportunities for submission of applications for adoption of decisions on detention;

- recognition and mandatory execution of decisions on the withholding of alimony;

             -the requirement to take effective measures for flexible execution of decisions related to compulsory withholding of alimony.

This Convention provides more opportunities for withholding alimony.

The Convention determines the procedure for obtaining preliminary information about the defendant's place of residence and financial situation, establishing paternity for deducting alimony, recognizing and executing maintenance agreements.

In essence, the convention can be applied not only to citizens of foreign states that are party to the convention, but also to foreign citizens who live or stay in the territory of states that are party to the convention for a long time. For example: to persons working temporarily in the territory of a foreign state.

The applicant has the right to apply to the central authority of another country with a request to determine the location of the debtor, to obtain information about his income and financial situation, to obtain documents for use as evidence, to determine paternity for the subsequent deduction of alimony and the application of protective measures.

The central authority provides the applicant with an opportunity to learn in advance about the feasibility of filing an application in the requested state, and also assists in the preparation of documents for filing the application.

Prior inquiry upon application is not mandatory and is at the sole discretion of the applicant.

If the applicant decides to apply, he/she has the right to request the following:

             -recognition or execution of the sentence,

             - execution of the decision adopted or recognized in the requested country,

- if a decision on the withholding of alimony is not taken and there is a need to establish paternity, the decision is taken in the requested country,

             - if it is not possible to recognize and execute the issued decision, to accept the decision on the requested side,

- changing the decision issued by the requested party,

             - changing the decision made in another country, not in the requested country.

One of the most interesting mechanisms is obtaining a decision on the withholding of alimony in the state where the debtor lives and the subsequent execution of the obtained decision. This creates legal opportunities for determining the amount of alimony, applying protective measures and, as a result, executing the decision more effectively and in a shorter period of time.

If the debtor intentionally refuses to pay alimony, he/she can be brought to criminal liability, or appropriate restrictive measures can be applied to him/her.

In order to ensure the execution of the decision, the following mandatory measures may be applied to the debtor:

  -directing the claim to the property by arresting the debtor's property and selling it,

             -directing the demand to the debtor's salary, pension, pension and other income,

             -directing the demand to the money and other property of the debtor in third parties.

Instead of several international instruments regulating different aspects of alimony (UN Convention of 1956, Hague Convention of 1956, Hague Convention of 1973), the Hague Convention of 2007 regulates all aspects of maintenance obligations ( except for the provisions stipulated in the Hague Protocol of 2007).

One of the advantages of the convention is that the physical presence of a citizen in the court of another state is not required, the list of required documents is defined, and there is no longer a need for the services of a lawyer or translator for their preparation, as well as legalization through an apostille.

States that have joined the Convention are already observing its advantages. To date, more than 40 countries have joined the Convention. Austria, Albania, Bulgaria, Brazil, Great Britain, Hungary, Germany, Norway, and Turkey can be named among them.