Recommended changes in law may make parent- child abduction a crime (2 December 2014)

Changes in the law which would make parent-child abduction across international borders a criminal offence have been set out after an 18-month consultation involving Reunite’s Legal Working Group and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Child Abduction.

The Law Society Gazette reports that four changes have been proposed to offer more support to abducted children and the parent who is left behind when a child is abducted by the other parent or a family member.

The recommendations are:

• Create a statutory offence of kidnapping which is clearer and simpler than current law based on the use or threat of force to take or move the victim.
• Replace the offence of false imprisonment with a statutory offence of unlawful detention.
• Increase the maximum sentence for offences under Sections 1 and 2 of the Child Abduction Act 1984 (CAA 1984) to 14 years’ imprisonment (from seven).
• Criminalise child retention by parents or connected persons by amending Section 1 of the CAA 1984.
Currently, there are two laws relating to child abduction under the Child Abduction Act 1984:

• Section 1: child abduction by parents (or connected persons), committed by taking or sending a child out of the UK without the appropriate consent; and

• Section 2: child abduction by other persons, by taking or detaining a child from persons with lawful control of the child.

Reunite is a UK charity which specialises in the movement of children across international borders – and says that up to 40% of cases involve wrongful retention of a child. The charity wants to give international child abduction parity in law with other types of child abuse and says:

“…As the law stands at present, children who are retained outside of the UK are not offered the level of protection afforded to children in other abusive situations.”

Duncan Lewis Children Lawyers

Duncan Lewis is a specialist firm of children lawyers and can advise families and single parents on a wide range of childcare matters, including international parent-child abduction.

Duncan Lewis children lawyers work fast to obtain the best resolution for the parent whose child has been abducted – our solicitors speak more than 70 languages between them and liaise with international associates to locate and return abducted children to their rightful parent.

Duncan Lewis is also a leading firm of Legal Aid lawyers and can advise on:

• Care proceedings
• Child abuse
• Child contact and residence
• Children taken into Local Authority care
• Court of Protection
• Wills and trusts.

Duncan Lewis children lawyers are able to advise on childcare matters under UK law and Islamic law.

For expert legal advice on childcare law – including child abduction – call Duncan Lewis children lawyers on 020 7923 4020.