Senate Judiciary Committee Amendment
H 3220 - Session 125 (2023-2024)
Uniform Child Abduction Prevention Act

The Committee on Judiciary proposes the following amendment (SJ-3220.MB0010S):

Amend the bill, as and if amended, SECTION 2, by striking Section 63-15-630(A) and inserting:

 (A) A petition under this article may be filed only in a court that has jurisdiction to make a child-custody determination with respect to the child at issue under S.C. Code Section 63-15-300 et seq.

Amend the bill further, SECTION 2, Section 63-15-640, by striking the first undesignated paragraph and inserting:

 A petition under this article must be verified or supported by a sworn affidavit and include a copy of any existing child-custody determination, if available. The petition must specify the risk factors for abduction, including the relevant factors described in Section 63-15-650. Subject to Section 63-15-346(E), if reasonably ascertainable, the petition must contain:

Amend the bill further, by adding an appropriately numbered SECTION to read:

SECTION X. Chapter 15, Title 63 of the S.C. Code is amended by adding:

 Section 63-15-605. A court of this State shall treat a foreign country as it if were a state of the United States for the purpose of applying this article if its child custody determination was made under factual circumstances in substantial conformity with the jurisdictional standards of this article and if the child custody laws of that foreign country do not violate fundamental principles of human rights.

Amend the bill further, by adding an appropriately numbered SECTION to read:

SECTION X. After enactment of the provisions of this act, the Code Commissioner is authorized to insert the Reporter's Comments, as amended, provided by the Reporter for the South Carolina Law Initiative Council, into the annotated version of the provisions of this act, as contained in the South Carolina Code of Laws, after the appropriate provisions. The Reporter's Comments, prepared by the Reporter for the South Carolina Law Initiative Council with the intent of aiding the user in understanding the provisions to the Uniform Child Abduction Prevention Act, are not considered part of this act and do not indicate legislative intent. The official comments prepared by the Uniform Law Commissioner are not included in this act, but interested users may access these comments at the Uniform Law Commission's depository website: https://uniformlaws.org.