Prevention of child abduction
If you fear that your child may be taken abroad without your consent you should consider the following:
Legal advice
The ICACU is not able to provide legal advice so if your legal position with regard to the child is unclear you should seek professional advice from a solicitor.
If you have parental responsibility for the child or a court order relating to custody/residence, access/contact or guardianship (or if you have applied for such an order) you or your solicitor should consider taking the following steps:
Alert your local police station, by telephone and then in person. You should be asked to give a statement. Where threat of removal is 'real' (more than a mere insurance policy) and 'imminent' (within the next 48 hours) and there is evidence to support the allegation, they will circulate details of the possible abductor and child to all UK points of departure via the Police National Computer. A court order is not necessary for the police to act in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Police will take a statement, which gives evidence of your responsibilities/rights in relation to the child and of your objection to the removal of the child out of the United Kingdom. However, if the child is aged 16 or 17 years, then a court order in respect of the child is needed. The police will need to see the order, as will the Passport Agency for the procedure described below.
Write to your regional office of the United Kingdom Passport Service, asking them not to grant passport facilities to the child(ren). They will usually need to see a court order such as a custody/residence, prohibited steps or wardship order. It should be noted that the United Kingdom Passport Agency cannot prevent a person obtaining a passport from another country's Embassy, High Commission or Consulate in this country.
The United Kingdom Passport Service
London Passport Office
Globe House
1 Eccleston Square London, SW1V 1PN
Tel: 08705 210 410 (UKPS Advice Line)
Website: http://www.ukpa.gov.uk/
If the other parent is not a British national or has dual nationality, you or your solicitors should consider writing a letter to the Embassy or Consulate of their country asking those officials not to issue a passport to your child. They are not obliged to comply with your request, but may do so voluntarily.
Contact reunite International Child Abduction Centre for a prevention guide. reunite is the leading UK charity offering advice, information and support to parents, guardians and family members affected by international parental child abduction.
reunite International Child Abduction Centre
PO Box 7124
Leicester, LE1 7XX
Tel: 0116 255 6234 (Advice Line
Fax: 0116 255 6370
E-mail: reunite
Website: http://www.reunite.org/
Criminal Law
The Child Abduction Act 1984 makes it a criminal offence for a person connected with a child under the age of 16 years to take or send that child out of the UK without the appropriate consent. A person in whose favour a residence order is made may remove a child from the UK for a period of up to 28 days .The offence of Kidnap at Common Law, of a child under the age of 18 years, can also be committed by a parent. You should report any abduction to your local police station.
Civil Law
If you fear that your child might be abducted, then you and your solicitor should consider making an application to the court for either a Prohibited Steps order, Residence order and or a Parental Responsibility order under the Children Act 1989. It may also be prudent to obtain an injunction preventing the other parent from removing the child, or seeking that the child be made a ward of the High Court. Wardship imposes an automatic prohibition on taking the child out of the United Kingdom. Orders can, if necessary, be made without notice to the other side (ex parte).
In addition, where there is a contact/access order in force, and it is feared that the child may be abducted by the person exercising contact, an application may be made for a variation of the order to provide for the contact to be supervised.
A wide range of orders may be made under the High Court's inherent jurisdiction with respect to children or within wardship proceedings, including "Seek and Find" orders, orders restraining persons from leaving the jurisdiction and requiring the surrender of passports.
In the Family Law Act 1986 there are powers to order disclosure of a child's whereabouts, to order the recovery of a child, to restrict the removal of a child from the United Kingdom and to require the surrender of any passport containing details of a child.
If it is feared that a child might not be returned from a visit abroad, then it is possible to ask the court to allow the visit only on condition that the person taking the child abroad lodge a sum of money in court, (a bond - or a charge on property) which will be forfeit if the child is not returned