BRORBY, Circuit Judge.
Ms. Ohlander appeals the United States District Court for the District of Utah’s judgment denying her petition for the return of her daughter Julia to Sweden under the Hague Convention, ordering Julia’s return to Utah, denying her two motions to withdraw and dismiss her petition, denying her motions to stay enforcement of the judgment, and a subsequent judgment denying her Fed. R.Civ.P. 60(b) motion to set aside the judg[1534]*1534ment.1 Applying the standards under Fed. R.Civ.P. 41(a)(2) in the Hague Convention context, we determine the district court abused its discretion in denying the motion to dismiss. We reverse and remand to the district court with instructions to dismiss Ms. Ohlander’s petition.
I. BACKGROUND
The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (the “Convention”), as implemented by both the United States Congress through the International Child Abduction Remedies Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 11601-11610 (1994), and Sweden, was adopted by the signatory nations “to protect children internationally from the harmful effects of their wrongful removal or retention and to establish procedures to ensure their prompt return to the State of their habitual residence.” Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, Dee. 23, 1981, Preamble, 51 Fed. Reg. 10494,10,498 (1986). The Convention is meant to provide for a child’s prompt return once it has been established the child has been “wrongfully removed” to or retained in any affiliated state. Id., art. 1, 51 Fed.Reg. at 10498.
Under the Convention, a removal or retention is “wrongful” if:
a. it is in breach of rights of custody attributed to a person, an institution or any other body, either jointly or alone, under the law of the State in which the child was habitually resident immediately before the removal or retention; and
b. at the time of removal or retention those rights were actually exercised, either jointly or alone, or would have been so exercised but for removal or retention.
Id., art. 3, 51 Fed.Reg. at 10498. Once a removal is deemed “wrongful,” “the authority concerned shall order the return of the child.” Id., art. 12, 51 Fed.Reg. at 10499. However, the Convention provides for several exceptions to return if the person opposing return can show any of the following: 1) the person requesting return was not, at the time of the retention or removal, actually exercising custody rights or had consented to or subsequently acquiesced in the removal or retention, id., art. 13a, 51 Fed.Reg. at 10499, 42 U.S.C. § 11603(e)(2)(A); 2) the return of the child would result in grave risk of physical or psychological harm to the child, id., art. 13b, 42 U.S.C. § 11603(e)(2)(A); 3) the return of the child “would not be permitted by the fundamental principles of the requested State relating to the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms,” id., art. 20, 51 Fed.Reg. at 10500, 42 U.S.C. § 11603(e)(2)(A); or 4) the proceeding was commenced more than one year after the abduction and the child has become settled in the new environment, id., art. 12, 51 Fed. Reg. at 10499, 42 U.S.C. § 11603(e)(2)(B).
II. FACTS
Ms. Ohlander, a Swedish citizen, and Mr. Larson, a United States citizen, were married in Utah in 1989. In August 1990, then-daughter Julia was bom in Provo, Utah. During the Christmas holiday season of 1990-91, when Julia was five months old, the entire family traveled to Sweden to visit Ms. Ohlander’s family with the intent to return to their Utah home in January 1991. After arriving in Sweden, Ms. Ohlander decided to remain in Sweden with Julia; Ms. Ohlander went into hiding with her daughter and severed contact with her husband. Mr. Larson returned to Utah alone in mid-January 1991.
By April 1991, Mr. Larson had reestablished contact with Ms. Ohlander. In June 1991, with Julia now almost a year old, Ms. Ohlander returned to Utah to be with Mr. Larson. Ms. Ohlander and Julia remained with Mr. Larson for seven months. On January 13, 1992, Ms. Ohlander returned with Julia to Sweden without Mr. Larson’s consent.
By November 1993,2 Julia had resided continuously in Sweden for almost two years, and was a little over three years old. Mr. [1535]*1535Larson returned to Sweden with his new wife to see Julia, and during one visitation, applied the law of “grab and run” taking Julia back to Utah without Ms. Ohlander’s consent. In January 1994, Ms. Ohlander filed a petition seeking her daughter’s return pursuant to the Hague Convention in the United States District Court for the District of Utah. Ms. Ohlander also secured an ex parte Order for Issuance of Warrant in Lieu of Writ of Habeas Corpus from the district court, directing peace officers to take Julia into protective custody and to release her to Ms. Ohlander, but prohibiting Ms. Ohlander from removing Julia from Utah pending further order. Mr. Larson delivered Julia to Ms. Ohlander on January 30,1994, and on February 1, 1994, Ms. Ohlander disobeyed the court’s order and applied her own version of the law of “grab and run” by returning to Sweden with Julia.
In August 1994, shortly after Julia’s fourth birthday, the district court entered an order finding Ms. Ohlander in contempt and directing her to return Julia to the United States within thirty days. Ms. Ohlander failed to comply. Two months later, in October 1994, following Ms. Ohlander’s and Julia’s return to Sweden, Mr. Larson filed a Convention application for Julia’s return with the United States Central Authority, which was forwarded to Sweden’s Central Authority.3 Ms. Ohlander then filed a motion, pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 41(a)(2), to dismiss her district court petition, based, in part, on the Convention’s art. 12, which authorizes a judicial authority to stay or dismiss the application or judicial proceedings seeking a child’s return.4 Hague Convention, art. 12, 51 Fed.Reg. at 10499. In January 1995, prior to the hearing on Ms. Ohlander’s motion, Mr. Larson petitioned the Sweden court pursuant to the Convention for Julia’s return on the ground Ms. Ohlander had “wrongfully removed” her from Utah.5
The United States district court conducted a hearing on Ms. Ohlander’s motion to dismiss. During that hearing, the United States district court was informed of Mr. Larson’s Hague Convention proceeding in Sweden. The district court denied the motion to dismiss solely on the basis of Ms. Ohlander’s contempt of its order not to remove Julia from Utah. Ms. Ohlander later orally renewed her motion to dismiss, which the district court denied on the same grounds.
The district court conducted a bench trial on Ms. Ohlander’s Hague Convention petition to determine the issues of habitual residence and wrongful removal pursuant to the Convention. However, neither Ms. Ohlander nor Julia was present for the hearing, nor did they testify by other means. Ms. Ohlander presented no live witnesses and relied only on the stipulated facts set out in the Pretrial Order. Ultimately, the district court found Julia was at all times a “habitual resident” of Utah, and as such, Ms. Ohlander’s retention of Julia in Sweden in 1991, and her removals of Julia from Utah in 1992 and 1994 were all “wrongful” under the Convention. Accordingly, the district court ordered Julia’s immediate return to Utah and requested the aid of the Contracting States in achieving that goal.
Following the United States district court’s decision, the Sweden courts held hearings to determine the merits of Mr. Larson’s petition. Both Mr. Larson and Ms. Ohlander were present during the Sweden court proceeding. The Sweden Supreme Administrative Court held Julia’s habitual residence changed from Utah to Sweden after she had lived in Sweden for twelve months following the January 1992 abduction — a decision di[1536]*1536rectly in conflict with the United States district court’s holding.
Once the Sweden court had made its ruling, Ms. Ohlander filed a motion to stay enforcement of the United States district court’s order, and a motion to set aside the United States’ judgment under Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b). The United States district court denied the motions, again solely on the basis of Ms. Ohlander’s contempt. We are presented, therefore, with two international decisions standing in direct conflict, and it is this contradiction we attempt to resolve for both the present case and for future cases.
III. DISCUSSION
This case presents issues novel to this court, and according to our research, novel to this country. Our aim is to provide courts with guidance in future similar cases, namely, where two civil actions under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abductions are filed in disparate courts due to a child’s removal from the court of first jurisdiction. Also, our aim is to give meaning to the Convention’s intended purpose of discouraging parents from fleeing with their children in search of a favorable decision. Notably, we are faced not only with issues of the proper interpretation of bare text in the form of the Hague Convention treaty, but also with the plight of a now six-year-old girl to whom the law of “grab and run” repeatedly has been applied.
We therefore must examine the following competing interests of: the district court ensuring compliance with its orders; the procedural conduct of the parties; and most important, the Convention’s intent and our duty to see that intent justly carried out. Against this backdrop, we attempt to untangle the Gordian knot the parents, together, have seen fit to tie.
IV. MOTION TO DISMISS
Even though Ms. Ohlander appeals several of the district court’s rulings, our decision on the motion to dismiss pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 41(a)(2) is dispositive. Thus, we need not address the remaining issues. We therefore.turn our focus to whether the district court abused its discretion in denying Ms. Ohlander’s motion to dismiss pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 41(a)(2).
A Relevant Facts
Ms. Ohlander’s first motion to dismiss was filed shortly after Mr. Larson filed his Hague application for Julia’s return to Utah with the United States Central Authority. Ms. Ohlander’s counsel raised her second motion to dismiss orally during the bench trial. Relying on the Convention’s art. 12, Ms. Ohlander argued in her first motion to dismiss that because Julia was no longer in the United States and because Mr. Larson had initiated his own Hague Convention application, the United States district court should dismiss the petition for Julia’s return to Sweden. By the time the United States district court heard arguments regarding the first motion to dismiss, Mr. Larson had initiated his own petition in the Sweden courts regarding the wrongfulness of Julia’s removal from the United States. The district court was aware of the duplicative judicial action in Sweden. Notwithstanding its knowledge of Mr. Larson’s Hague Convention proceedings in Sweden, the district court summarily denied Ms. Ohlander’s motion solely on the basis of Ms. Ohlander’s contempt stating:
I’m not going to grant the Motion to Dismiss and I’m not going to grant it simply because this woman, the petitioner, in my opinion, isn’t in a position to ask me to do that, because she’s in violation of the orders of this Court. She is simply in violation. She invoked the jurisdiction. She asked for our help, and then she, contrary to the order of the Court, ran.
In her second motion to dismiss, Ms. Ohlander reliéd again on the Convention’s art. 12, the fact that Julia was no longer in the United States, and the fact that Mr. Larson had initiated judicial proceedings in Sweden. The district court again denied Ms. Ohlander’s second motion to dismiss due to her contumacious conduct.
jB. Relevant Factors Considered Under 41 (a) (2) I Standard of Review
Once a defendant files an answer, as was the case here, a plaintiff may voluntarily dismiss an action only upon order of [1537]*1537the court. Fed.R.Civ.P. 41(a)(2). We review the district court’s decision to deny a voluntary dismissal under such conditions for abuse of discretion. American Nat’l Bank & Trust Co. v. Bic Corp., 981 F.2d 1411, 1412 (10th Cir.1991). Absent “legal prejudice” to the defendant, the district court normally should grant such a dismissal. See Andes v. Versant Corp., 788 F.2d 1033, 1036 (4th Cir.1986) (voluntary dismissal “should not be denied absent substantial prejudice to the defendant”); McCants v. Ford Motor Co., 781 F.2d 855, 856-57 (11th Cir.1986) (“in most cases a dismissal should be granted unless the defendant will suffer clear legal prejudice”). The parameters of what constitutes “legal prejudice” are not entirely clear, but relevant factors the district court should consider include: the opposing party’s effort and expense in preparing for trial; excessive delay and lack of diligence on the part of the movant; insufficient explanation of the need for a dismissal; and the present stage of litigation. Phillips U.S.A., Inc. v. Allflex U.S.A., Inc., 77 F.3d 354, 358 (10th Cir.1996). Each factor need not be resolved in favor of the moving party for dismissal to be appropriate, nor need each factor be resolved in favor of the opposing party for denial of the motion to be proper. Id. at 358.
The above list of factors is by no means exclusive. Id. at 358. Any other relevant factors should come into the district court’s equation. In fact, in the context of this Hague Convention proceeding, the district court was impressed with a duty to exercise its discretion by carefully appraising any additional factors unique to the context of this case, including the interests in comity, uniform interpretation of the Convention and the importance of giving import to the Hague Convention’s intended purpose as relevant to the motion to dismiss.
The district court should endeavor to insure substantial justice is accorded to both parties. 9 Charles Alan Wright and Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2364 at 278 (2d ed. 1994). A court, therefore, must consider the equities not only facing the defendant, but also those facing the plaintiff; a court’s refusal to do so is a denial of a full and complete exercise of judicial discretion. Id. at 297. In a complex, emotional ease such as this, it is critically important when considering a motion to dismiss, the court give the equities of the plaintiff the attention deserved.
Finally, when considering a motion to dismiss, a court must remember the important factors in determining legal prejudice are those involving the parties, not the court’s time or effort spent on the case. Clark v. Tansy, 13 F.3d 1407, 1411 (10th Cir.1993). A court abuses its discretion when denying a motion to dismiss under Rule 41(a)(2) based on its inconvenience. Id. at 1411.
In sum, the district court was obligated to consider the novelty of the circumstances surrounding this case. Instead, the court did not consider the merits of Ms. Ohlander’s motion due exclusively to her contumacious conduct. It is true Ms. Ohlander blatantly violated the court’s orders and absconded to Sweden with Julia in tow. We refuse to condone such conduct. However, neither can we condone a court ignoring its duty to consider the merits of a motion to dismiss simply because a party has violated its orders. Whether a motion to dismiss under Rule 41(a)(2) may be granted is a matter initially left to the district court’s discretion, but such discretion does not excuse a court’s failure to exercise any discretion, nor does it save an unpermitted exercise of discretion from reversal. Alamance Indus., Inc. v. Filene’s, 291 F.2d 142, 146-47 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 368 U.S. 831, 82 S.Ct. 53, 7 L.Ed.2d 33 (1961). A clear example of an abuse of discretion exists where the trial court fails to consider the applicable legal standard or the facts upon which the exercise of its discretionary judgment is based. See McNickle v. Bankers Life & Cas. Co., 888 F.2d 678, 680 (10th Cir.1989) (reviewing a district court’s 60(a) motion under an abuse of discretion standard). We believe the district court’s decision to deny Ms. Ohlander’s motion solely on the grounds of her contempt and without considering any additional circumstances, amounts to a failure to exercise discretion, and is, consequently, an abuse of that discretion.
[1538]*1538
C. Merits of Ms. Ohlander’s 41(a)(2) Motion
1. Traditional Factors
Although the district court’s failure to apply the correct legal standard could serve as a basis for remand, in the interest of efficiency and judicial economy, and in the interest of providing immediate guidance as to the most appropriate direction of this case in light of the Convention’s purpose, we turn to the merits of Ms. Ohlander’s motion to dismiss. Clark, 13 F.3d at 1411-13 (considering on appeal the merits of motion to dismiss after district court abused its discretion); Park County Resource Council v. United States Dept. of Agric., 817 F.2d 609, 617-18 (10th Cir.1987) (“Although failure to apply correct legal standard could be basis for remand to the district court, we have found that remand is not necessary where there is no dispute regarding the underlying facts and where it is in the interest of judicial economy and efficiency to decide the matter.”); see also McCord v. Bailey, 636 F.2d 606, 613 (D.C.Cir.1980) (although inadequate findings and conclusions may be remanded to the district court for supplementation, appellate court will not remand for more specific findings if doing so will consume judicial resources without serving any purpose). We believe, as is obvious from our remaining analysis, no dispute regarding the underlying facts exists and the existing record is adequate to address the issues of concern.
Mr. Larson argues that to grant Ms. Ohlander’s motion would subject him to legal prejudice. More specifically, Mr. Larson argues he would be unfairly prejudiced by Ms. Ohlander’s excessive delay and lack of diligence, and by the lack of a sufficient explanation in favor of dismissal. See Allflex, 77 F.3d at 358. Mr. Larson argues Ms. Ohlander’s filing of her motion to dismiss eleven months after the initiation of the proceedings and after Mr. Larson had requested a final pretrial hearing constitutes delay and lack of diligence. However, while Ms. Ohlander moved to dismiss her petition eleven months after she initiated the proceeding, our examination of the record illustrates Ms. Ohlander filed her motion to dismiss only after Mr. Larson had filed his application for Julia’s return with the United States Central Authority. Therefore, the most persuasive reason to file a motion to dismiss did not arise until eleven months following the initial proceeding’s initiation. As a result, the timing of Ms. Ohlander’s motion could not constitute excessive delay sufficient to legally prejudice Mr. Larson. Moreover, the record shows Ms. Ohlander’s counsel was actively and diligently moving forward with the case regardless of Ms. Ohlander’s absence. Counsel was present at and participated in every hearing.6 Therefore, we conclude there was no improper delay or lack of diligence on Ms. Ohlander’s part sufficient to legally prejudice Mr. Larson.
Further, we believe the reasons Ms. Ohlander has given for granting the motion to dismiss are not insufficient such that they prejudice Mr. Larson. In her motions to dismiss, Ms. Ohlander argued her petition was moot and because Julia was no longer in [1539]*1539Utah, the Convention’s art. 12 allowed for a stay or dismissal of the proceedings. Ms. Ohlander also relied on the fact Mr. Larson himself initiated a duplicative action in Sweden as further support for the imposition of the Convention’s art. 12 dismissal provision. Certainly, the first two reasons alone are insufficient to support a motion to dismiss and could give parents an undue incentive to flee from Hague Convention proceedings. However, as discussed at length below, we place greater weight on Ms. Ohlander’s proffered reasons that Mr. Larson initiated a second action in Sweden and that the Convention’s art. 12 lends support for dismissing the United States proceeding. Ms. Ohlander’s reasons for requesting the motion to dismiss are not insufficient such that they legally prejudice Mr. Larson. Rather, as Ms. Ohlander emphasizes, by initiating a judicial proceeding in Sweden Mr. Larson himself, along with the Convention’s terms, provided the most persuasive reason to dismiss the United States district court proceeding. Mr. Larson is hard pressed to argue he is prejudiced by his own actions.
Mr. Larson also argues the motion to dismiss should not be granted because his response to Ms. Ohlander’s Hague Convention petition should be construed as a counterclaim. It is true a court may construe a pleading mistakenly designated as a defense as a counterclaim when justice requires. Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(c). However, because Mr. Larson filed his own Hague Convention petition in Sweden, we remain unconvinced justice requires us to construe Mr. Larson’s response to Ms. Ohlander’s petition as a counterclaim in this case. Mr. Larson chose to assert his claims in a court of another jurisdiction. Justice does not require us to tortuously construe his response to Ms. Ohlander’s petition simply to retain jurisdiction over this matter. Had Mr. Larson wanted the United States courts to adjudicate' his claim Ms. Ohlander wrongfully removed Julia from Utah, he would have been far better served by filing a cross-petition with the district court rather than initiating an entirely new proceeding in Sweden. Consequently, we refuse to construe Mr. Larson’s response as a counterclaim.7
2. Additional Relevant Factors
As already noted, given the unique circumstances of this case, the district court should have considered the importance of a proper, uniform interpretation of the Convention, along with a consideration of the Convention’s purpose, when evaluating the merits of Ms. Ohlander’s motion to dismiss. We now consider those factors.
a. Proper Interpretation of the Hague Convention’s Procedures
When the district court considered whether Ms. Ohlander’s removal of Julia from Utah was wrongful, it misconstrued the Convention’s contemplated procedures. According to the Convention, once a petition is filed, a court should consider only whether a re[1540]*1540spondent’s removals of a child are wrongful. See Hague Convention, arts. 3, 12, 51 Fed. Reg. at 10498, 10499, 42 U.S.C. § 11603(b), (e). Here, antithetic to the Convention’s intent as a whole, the court considered whether the petitioner’s removals of the child were wrongful.
When Ms. Ohlander petitioned the United States district court for Julia’s return to Sweden, the issue before the court was whether Mr. Larson’s removal of Julia from Sweden was wrongful pursuant to the Convention. Hague Convention, art. 3, 51 Fed. Reg. at 10498. Once Ms. Ohlander removed Julia from Utah, the issue became whether Ms. Ohlander’s removals were wrongful. Id. By filing his own petition in the Sweden courts, Mr. Larson chose to adjudicate Ms. Ohlander’s removals of Julia in the foreign court rather than in the United States district court. The district court’s consideration of Ms. Ohlander’s removal of Julia without Mr. Larson having filed a cross-petition in that court was contrary to the Convention’s intended procedures.
Additionally, denial of Ms. Ohlander’s motion to dismiss renders Ms. Ohlander’s most relevant defense to Julia’s return to Utah unavailable, namely, the “settled environment” defense. Hague Convention, art. 12, 51 Fed.Reg. at 10499, 42 U.S.C. § 11603(e)(2)(B). Under the Convention’s plain terms, one defense to a child’s return is showing the petition was filed a year after the child’s removal or retention and that the child has become settled in his or her new environment. Hague Convention, art. 12, 51 Fed.Reg. at 10499, 42 U.S.C. § 11603(e)(2)(B). When Ms. Ohlander filed her petition, she was asking for Julia’s return to Sweden; any defenses to Julia’s return, under Article 12 or otherwise, were available only to the respondent, Mr. Larson. See Hague Convention, art. 12, 51 Fed.Reg. at 10499, 42 U.S.C. § 11603(e)(2)(B). Consequently, Ms. Ohlander could not, under the Convention’s contemplated procedures, properly assert the “settled environment” defense. However, once Mr. Larson filed his own petition in Sweden seeking to adjudicate Ms. Ohlander’s removal of Julia from Utah, Ms. Ohlander rightfully could assert the “settled environment” defense. Hague Convention, art. 12, 51 Fed.Reg. at 10499, 42 U.S.C. § 11603(e)(2)(B). Conversely, had Mr. Larson filed a cross-petition in the United States district court for Julia’s return to Utah, rather than instigating an entirely new action in Sweden, Ms. Ohlander properly could have asserted her defenses in the United States district court. Since Mr. Larson chose to initiate a second Convention proceeding in Sweden, Sweden was the jurisdiction where the claims and defenses of both Ms. Ohlander and Mr. Larson could be more fairly adjudicated. Therefore, the proper interpretation of the Convention weighs in favor of dismissing the United States action and allowing the issues to be decided in Sweden.8
This result is further supported by the plain language of the Convention’s art. 12, which states “where the judicial or administrative authority in the requested State has reason to believe the child has been taken to another State, it may stay the proceedings or dismiss the application for the return of the child.” Hague Convention, art. 12, 51 Fed. Reg. at 10499. While this language is permissive rather than mandatory, its words merit a court’s consideration when denying a motion to dismiss. Congress has declared the importance of “the need for uniform international interpretation of the Convention.” 42 U.S.C. § 11601(b)(3)(B). Article 12 helps to ensure two disparate courts will not reach conflicting decisions by encouraging courts to dismiss or stay their actions where appropriate. This case poses a perfect example of the need for Article 12’s dismissal provision: [1541]*1541the United States district court had knowledge that Julia had been taken to Sweden, and that a second action initiated by Mr. Larson was pending in Sweden, where all the parties, including the child, were present. Therefore, we conclude the adherence to intended Hague Convention procedures support Ms. Ohlander’s motion to dismiss.
b. Intent of the Hague Convention
Failing to grant the motion to dismiss where a second duplicative action has been filed in a different country would potentially render the Hague Convention meaningless. Part of the Convention’s intent is “to ensure that rights of custody and of access under the law of one Contracting State are effectively respected in other Contracting States.” Hague Convention, art. 1(b), 51 Fed.Reg. at 10498. Prior to the Convention, when faced with an unfavorable custody decision, a parent would flee to another country in search of a custody decision in his or her favor. This would often result in two conflicting custody decisions without guidance as to which country’s custody decision had preference. The Hague Convention was drafted with the intent to remove forever the incentive for a parent to flee across borders to obtain a-favorable ruling. Letter of Transmittal from President Ronald Reagan (Oct. 30, 1985), reprinted in 51 Fed.Reg. 10494, 10,495 (1986); Pub. Notice 957, 51 Fed.Reg. 10494, 10505 (1986). Under the Convention, a child is to be expediently returned to his or her state of habitual residence “so that a court there can examine the merits of the custody dispute and award custody in the child’s best interests.” Pub. Notice 957, 51 Fed.Reg. at 10505. As a result, the Convention was meant, in part, to lend priority to the custody determination hailing from the child’s state of habitual residence.
While the Convention proceedings in this ease certainly have not achieved this intended result, a refusal to dismiss this action only exacerbates the problem. By failing to dismiss the United States action we would allow to stand two conflicting decisions regarding Julia’s state of habitual residence, which could very well require a Hague Convention to determine which Hague Convention determination is valid. This, of course, is absurd. By dismissing this action, we instead require these and future litigants to choose which jurisdiction will determine a child’s state of habitual residence, thereby salvaging what we can of the Convention’s intended purpose.9
, Failing to grant the motion to dismiss also could create a new incentive for parents to flee Hague Convention proceedings in the hope of obtaining a second, more favorable Convention determination in another country. We then would be left to solve the riddle of which competing ruling in each ease is valid. This is a task we refuse to acquire. Rather, we believe the parties’ interests would be best represented and judicial resources best spent if parents engaged in this type international custody battle are required to resolve their dispute in one jurisdiction or the other. Holding Mr. Larson and future litigants to one jurisdiction gives import to the Convention’s intended meaning.
c. Ms. Ohlander’s Contempt
Certainly, the court’s interest in ensuring a party’s compliance with its orders is a great one, enforceable by fines or imprisonment. Spallone v. United States, 493 U.S. 265, 276, 110 S.Ct. 625, 632-33, 107 L.Ed.2d 644 (1990). However, a court is obliged to use the “‘least possible power adequate to the end proposed.’ ” Id. at 276, 110 S.Ct. at 632 (quoting United States v. Yonkers, 856 F.2d 444, 454 (2d Cir.1988), and Anderson v. Dunn, 6 Wheat. 204, 231, 5 L.Ed. 242 (1821)). Here, certainly other measures were available to compel compliance, such as personal sanctions against the mother, or possibly staying a decision pending the child’s return.
Under the provisions of the International Child Abduction Remedies Act, the district court has the authority to implement meá[1542]*1542sures to “prevent the child’s further removal or concealment before the final disposition of the petition.” 42 U.S.C. § 11604. Given Ms. Ohlander’s history of removing Julia from the United States, to prevent Ms. Ohlander from repeating this behavior, perhaps the district court should have imposed more rigid measures, such as requiring Ms. Ohlander to surrender both her and Julia’s passports to the clerk of court prior to receiving physical custody of Julia, or leaving custody with Mr. Larson pending the petition’s outcome. See Currier v. Currier, 845 F.Supp. 916, 923 (D.N.H.1994) (district court requiring petitioner surrender her and her children’s passport to the court’s clerk pending appeal). However, if such measures are not imposed, or if they fail, the court is not thereby released of its duty to consider the merits of the parties’ cases when considering how best to enforce compliance. In sum, there is no doubt Ms. Ohlander’s actions were contemptible, for she brazenly thumbed her nose at the United States district court’s order not to remove Julia from Utah; nevertheless, such conduct does not warrant a court denying a motion to dismiss solely on that ground.
In sum, we hold it necessary to dismiss this action. Mr. Larson does not suffer legal prejudice from such a dismissal, and the balance of relevant factors, along with the intent of the Convention, weigh in favor of dismissal.
We REVERSE the district court and REMAND with instructions to dismiss the petition without prejudice.