Child Abduction- Person Connected with Child Flashcards
Q: What are the 2 offences of child abduction?
S1- Family situations where children are taken out of the UK without proper permission
S2- General abduction offence
Q: What type of offence is s1?
Triable either way offence.
Carries a maximum sentence of 7 years imprisonment on indictment.
Q: Who is a ‘child’ for the purposes of these offences?
Anyone under 16.
Q: What is the s1 offence?
S1 Child Abduction Act 1984
(1) Subject to subsections (5) and (8) below, a person connected with a child under the age of 16 commits an offence if he takes or sends the child out of the United Kingdom without the appropriate consent.
Q: What does ‘connected with a child’ mean?
S1(2) A person is connected with the child for the purposes of this section if-
(a) he is a parent of the child; or
(b) in the case of a child whose parents were not married to, or civil partners of, each other at the time of his birth, there are reasonable grounds for believing that he is the father of the child; or
(c) he is a guardian of the child; or
(ca) he is a special guardian of the child; or
(d) he is a person named in a child arrangements order as a person with whom the child is to live; or
(e) he has custody of the child.
Q: Who can the offence be committed by?
This offence can only be committed by those people listed in s. 1(2). Such a person must either take, or be responsible for sending, the child out of the United Kingdom him/herself.
The taking or sending must be shown to have been done without the consent of each of those per-sons listed in s. 1(3)(a) or, if there is a custody order in force, the court’s permission must be sought.
Q: Who is a Special Guardian?
Created by a Special Guardian Order. It secures child’s long-term placement and is an order made by the court appointing one or more individuals to be the child’s ‘special guardian’. It is intended for children who cannot live with their birth parents. It lasts until the child is 18.
Q: What is a child arrangements order?
S8(1) Children Act 1989 states that a child arrangements order means an order regulating arrangements relating to any of the following:
(a) with whom a child is to live, spend time or otherwise have contact; and
(b) when a child is to live, spend time or otherwise have contact with any person.
Q: Does this apply if the child is taken without consent, but remains in the UK?
The s1 offence is about a child going out of the UK. It is not about parents fighting over children within the UK, even if they are breaching family court orders.
This offence is not committed by holding a child within the United Kingdom or by failing to return a child who has previously been taken abroad.
Q: Is the child’s consent relevant when it comes to child abduction?
No- their consent is irrelevant. A child under 16 cannot give any valid, legal consent to abduction. Parental consent is the important one.
It does not matter that the child is happy to accompany the person who takes them!
Q: What is meant by ‘appropriate consent’?
S1(3) Child Abduction Act 1984
In this section ‘the appropriate consent’ in relation to a child, means—
(a) the consent of each of the following-
(i) the child’s mother
(ii) the child’s father, if he has parental responsibility for him;
(iii) any guardian of the child;
(iiia) any special guardian of the child;
(iv) any person named in a child arrangements order as a person with whom the child is to live;
(v) any person who has custody of the child; or
(b) the leave of the court granted under or by virtue of any provision of Part II of the Children Act 1989; or
(c) if any person has custody of the child, the leave of the court which awarded custody to him.
Q: How is the consent for a mother different from that of a father?
Mums consent is required in every case, but dads is only required if he has parental responsibility.
The consent of a child’s father is only required when he has parental responsibility for the child. Father’s get parental responsibility automatically when a child is born within marriage or civil partnership or if the parents subsequently marry or enter a civil partnership or are named on the birth certificate.
In other cases, the father may need to apply to the court for one of these orders.
Q: Do you need consent from all of those people or just one?
Need to get consent from each of these parental people.
Q: What happens if consent cannot be gained from one of these parental people?
If consent cannot be gained/is refused by one of the people, you have to go to the family court and get permission from a family court judge.
Appropriate consent to a child leaving the UK is obtained by either getting permission from each and every one of the named parental people or by getting it from the family court under the Chil-dren Act.
Q: Whose consent is needed for a charge of child abduction?
The consent of the DPP is needed before a charge of child abduction is brought under this section (s. 4(2)).
