‘Although there was no doubt that there were circumstances in which the High Court, in exercise of its inherent jurisdiction, could properly make an order requiring someone to lodge their passport with the court or with some suitable custodian it was not permissible to make such an order to compel a third party without parental responsibility, or any other form of power or control over the child, to take steps to secure the return of an abducted child. Furthermore, where the subject of the order was not yet 17 it was simply wrong as a matter of principle to attach a penal notice to the order since a child could not be imprisoned or detained for contempt.’
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
