Seeking to regain custody of a daughter he hasn¡¯t seen in years, an American father called on the Tokyo Family Court on Thursday to stop ¡°endorsing child abduction¡± by parents and demonstrate that it is capable of prioritizing the best interests of children.

U.S. Navy Cmdr. Paul Toland is suing the mother of his Japanese ex-wife for refusing to let him see his 12-year-old daughter ever since the wife committed suicide in 2007 after taking away the child four years earlier due to a failed marriage.

Japan joined the Hague Convention on cross-border parental child kidnapping in 2014. But since the abduction was not cross-border ¡ª Toland¡¯s family was based in Yokohama at the time it occurred ¡ª his case is not covered by the pact, which also doesn¡¯t work retroactively.

Aside from getting back his child, Toland characterized his lawsuit as a challenge against the entrenched tendency by Japanese family courts to disregard the right of left-behind parents, a tendency that he claimed is tantamount to ¡°endorsing child abduction¡± between parents.

¡°The current situation in Japan, where (my daughter) is shut off from her only parent and held by a third-party non-parent, would be inconceivable in the rest of the world,¡± Toland said in prerecorded video footage played by his lawyer Akira Ueno after the trial. ¡°I sincerely hope the Japanese courts will recognize the universal right of parents, and do the right thing in this case.¡±

Lawyers representing Toland¡¯s mother-in-law were not available for immediate comment on Friday.

During the trial, Toland was quoted by Ueno as saying his wish to see his abducted daughter ¡°once a week¡± was met with laughter by a family court arbitrator, indicating that such a request was far beyond reach for a non-custodial parent. Toland himself couldn¡¯t make it to the trial as he is now in the United States.

After his daughter was taken by his ex-wife in July 2003, Toland claims he has only been able to see her on a couple of occasions, with his attempts to communicate with her ¡°flat-out rejected¡± by his mother-in-law.

¡°Customarily speaking, Japanese family courts are notorious for being overwhelmingly inclined to give custody to parents who took away their children first,¡± Ueno said.

Underlying such a tendency, he said, is the fact that family courts lack the understanding that children are better off being granted access to both parents after divorce.