2.2.1 Abduction |
Contents
1. Legal Framework
An offence under the Child Abduction Act may be committed if a person removes a child without the consent of:
- the child’s mother
- the child’s father, f he has Parental Responsibility
- a person in whose favour a Residence Order is in force with respect to the child
- a person who has custody of the child (in this case the leave of the Court which granted custody must be obtained).
NOTE if the child is Looked After, the only consent that is needed is that of the local authority.
2. To Prevent Child Abduction
Before any request is made to the police for assistance, Social Workers must ensure they have the necessary Court order to restrict or restrain the removal of the child.
In all cases, Social Workers must consult a senior practitioner or service Manager and liaise with Legal Services, before taking action.
This table provides guidance:
| Child under 16 years | Child 16-18 years | Ward of Court |
| Not necessary to obtain a Court order (but if an order has been obtained it should be shown to the police) | Essential that an order is obtained which restricts or restrains removal | No Ward may be removed from the jurisdiction without the leave of a Court. Police will need evidence that the child is a Ward (for example order certifying wardship, injunction or a sealed copy of the original summons) |
Any application for assistance to prevent a child’s removal from the jurisdiction must be made by the applicant or their legal representative to the Police Duty Inspector.
The initial information required will be name and age of child, and the address from which he/she has been taken.
The Duty Inspector will put you in touch with the appropriate police station in order that the necessary action can be taken.
If there is a real and imminent threat that the child is about to be removed unlawfully from the country, the police will inform the port authorities or airports directly and liaise with the immigration officers to identify children at risk of removal.
To help decide whether the danger of removal is real and imminent the following list of questions should be considered:-
- Whether threats of removal have been made.
- Whether the person considered likely to abduct the child has unsupervised contact.
- Whether the child is with the abducting person at present.
- Whether the abducting person has previously returned the child on time after periods of contact
- Whether the abducting person has ties abroad, for example a Home, relatives or a job.
A port alert must only be requested if the danger of removal is real and imminent. “Imminent” means within twenty four to forty eight hours and “real” means that the port alert is not being sought by, or on behalf of, an applicant, merely by way of insurance.
The request for a port alert should be accompanied by as much of the following information as possible:-
- The child: name(s), sex, date of birth, description, nationality, passport number if known.
- The person likely to remove: name(s), age, description, nationality, passport number if known, relationship to child and whether the child is likely to assist him or her.
- Person applying for a port alert: name(s), relationship to the child, nationality, telephone number and solicitor’s name and number if appropriate.
- Likely destination.
- Likely time of travel and port of embarkation.
- Grounds for port alert, either:
- Suspected offence under Section I of Child Abduction Act 1984; or
- Child subject to a Court order.
If the police decide that the case is one in which the port alert system should be used, the child’s name will remain on the stop list for four weeks. After that time, it will be removed automatically unless a further application for a port stop is made.
If the child does not have a valid passport; give notice in writing and enclose copies of any relevant Court Order(s), to the United Kingdom Passport Agency that passport facilities should not be provided without leave of the Court, or in the cases other than wardship, the consent of the other Parent, guardian or person to whom a residence order or Parental responsibility has been granted, or the consent of the mother.
3. In the Event of a Child Abduction
Carry out procedures for Movement of Children on careFirst or complete form CF7 Placement and/or Change of Status of a Child or Young Person. See Carefirst Information Pack and Training Manual.
We have reciprocal agreements on child abduction with:
| Argentina Australia Austria Bahamas Canada Denmark Ecuador |
Finland France Germany Honduras Iceland Luxembourg Macedonia |
Netherlands New Zealand Norway Panama Republic of Ireland St Kitts and Nevis Turkmenistan U.S.A. Venezuela Zimbabweb |
If a child is thought to have been abducted from Britain to one of these countries, contact the Child Abduction Unit of the Lord Chancellor’s Department who will forward the application to the overseas authorities for action.
The authorities in that country will try to discover the child’s whereabouts and attempt to persuade the snatching Parent to return the child voluntarily. If this fails, Court action will be taken and Legal Aid will be provided.
End