Gaudin

MEMORANDUM **

Catherine Jane Von Kennel Gaudin and John R. Remis, Jr. appear before this court for the fourth time, litigating whether the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, Oct. 25,1980,19 I.L.M. 1501 (the “Convention”) requires the return of their children to Gaudin’s custody in Canada. As the facts are known to the parties, they will not be repeated here, except as necessary to our decision.

In the current appeal, Gaudin asks us to reverse the district court’s 2001 decision refusing to vacate the Hawaii state court custody order governing the custody of the parties’ children. She argues that because the state issued its judgment while her federal claim under the Convention was pending, it was premature. See Convention, art. 16, 19 I.L.M. at 1501. (“[T]he judicial or administrative authorities of the Contracting State to which the child has been removed ... shall not decide on the merits of rights of custody until it has been determined that the child is not to be returned under this Convention.... ”). The Convention, however, applies only to children who are under sixteen years of *134 age. Id. art. 4, 19 I.L.M. at 1501. The parties’…