Category: child abduction

Placement of children abroad: consultation and consent – Local Government Lawyer

Posted March 7th, 2025 in child abduction, children, foreign jurisdictions, news, practice directions by Lily

‘In January 2024 the President of the Family Division issued guidance on public law children cases with an international element. This refreshes and replaces the 2014 President’s guidance on the same topic. The guidance explains how to go about obtaining information (or other requests for co-operation) from other jurisdictions. The International Child Abduction and Contact Unit (ICACU) is the conduit for such requests where the request arises out of proceedings brought by an English local authority and the other country is a party to the 1996 Hague Convention.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 7th March 2025

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Pilot cleared of abducting girl, 9, outside Harrods – BBC News

Posted October 30th, 2024 in child abduction, child abuse, children, indecent photographs of children, kidnapping, news, sexual offences by tracey

‘A former US Air Force pilot accused of kidnapping a nine-year-old girl outside Harrods and then sexually assaulting her has been found not guilty.’

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BBC News, 29th October 2024

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Family courts: ‘We kidnapped our kids from abusive dads and fled the UK’ – BBC News

Posted September 5th, 2023 in child abduction, Cyprus, domestic violence, extradition, families, family courts, news, treaties by sally

‘A growing number of women who say their children were handed to abusive partners by England and Wales’ family courts have abducted them and fled to Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus. The BBC spoke to six of them to investigate some of their stories.’

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BBC News, 5th September 2023

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

What is the Tipstaff and what is their role? – Family Law

Posted June 30th, 2023 in child abduction, children, courts, families, family courts, news by tracey

‘The Tipstaff is often one of the first topics of discussion raised by new clients who have been accused of abducting their children. Questions that I am regularly asked are “What is the Tipstaff?” “What is their role in my case?” “Why did they send the police to visit me?” and “why do I have to provide them with my passports?” ‘

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Family Law, 26th June 2023

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

Child Abductors, Contempt and Successive Prison Sentences – Family Law Week

Posted March 2nd, 2023 in child abduction, contempt of court, news, sentencing, wardship by tracey

‘Pam Sanghera, of Charles Strachan Solicitors, and Clare Renton, of 29 Bedford Row Chambers, explain the Court of Appeal’s message that those who have abducted children and are in breach of court orders to procure their return will not get away with the argument that they have already served a number of prison sentences.’

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Family Law Week, 1st March 2023

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

Taxi licensing and the fit and proper person test – Local Government Lawyer

Posted November 30th, 2021 in child abduction, licensing, local government, news, taxis by tracey

‘Sefton Council has overturned a Magistrates Court’s decision to grant a taxi licence to an ex-policeman convicted of child abduction. Gary Grant explains how.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 29th November 2021

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Family Law Newsletter – Spire Barristers

Posted November 10th, 2020 in care orders, child abduction, children, deprivation of liberty safeguards, domicile, news by sally

‘Issue #40 of Spire Barristers’ Family Law Newsletter: edited by Connie Purdy and Taz Irshad; news and Case Reviews by Francesca Massarella.’

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Spire Barristers, 21st October 2020

Source: spirebarristers.co.uk

AS v CPW: The Court retrospectively grants a time limited relocation of a child wrongly removed to, and retained in Sierra Leone – Family Law

Posted May 27th, 2020 in child abduction, children, news, retrospectivity, time limits by sally

‘In short, the case concerns three children but the judgement largely deals with the eldest child, B, a 14-year-old boy who was wrongly removed and retained by the mother in Sierra Leone. The younger two children remain in England with the mother. The father applied in wardship for a summary inward return order for B. Ten months ago, the mother took B to Sierra Leone and left him there with her mother (who is highlighted in the case, to be a police officer in Sierra Leone). The father also applied for Child Arrangement Order for contact with the children. The mother then cross-applied for an order permitting her retrospectively relocating B to Sierra Leone until the summer of 2022 to enable him to conclude his GCSEs at a school in Sierra Leone.’

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Family Law, 22nd May 2020

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

Daughter in CoP case questions “second-rate” Skype justice – Legal Futures

Posted April 1st, 2020 in child abduction, coronavirus, Court of Protection, families, live link evidence, medical treatment, news by sally

‘An academic who was present at the first Court of Protection hearing to be conducted over Skype last month has raised concerns over its impact on relatives and witnesses.’

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Legal Futures, 1st April 2020

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Child abduction—use of the 1996 Hague Convention as opposed to the inherent jurisdiction (Re I-L (children) (1996 Hague Child Protection Convention—inherent jurisdiction) – 1 GC: Family Law

Posted December 2nd, 2019 in child abduction, conflict of laws, jurisdiction, news, treaties by sally

‘In Re I-L (children) the Court of Appeal allowed the father’s appeal and held that where the 1996 Hague Convention applies between two countries, if a 1980 Hague Convention application is made and is not successful, the applicable jurisdictional provisions are those of the 1996 Hague Convention, particularly Art 11, and the inherent jurisdiction is not available to use. Eleri Jones, barrister at 1GC Family Law, who represented the appellant father, considers the implications.’

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1 GC: Family Law, 21st November 2019

Source: 1gc.com

New Judgment: In the matter of NY (A Child) [2019] UKSC 49 – UKSC Blog

Posted October 31st, 2019 in child abduction, jurisdiction, news, Supreme Court by sally

‘This appeal concerned a father’s application for an order for the immediate return of his daughter from England and Wales to Israel. The issue raised was whether the Court of Appeal, having determined that such an order could not be granted under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction 1980, was nonetheless entitled to grant it under the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court to make orders in relation to children.’

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UKSC Blog, 30th October 2019

Source: ukscblog.com

Rotherham child sexual abuse: judge calls authorities ‘totally ineffectual’ – The Guardian

Posted September 2nd, 2019 in child abduction, child abuse, children, news, rape, sentencing, sexual grooming, sexual offences by sally

‘Five men have been jailed for sexually exploiting teenage girls in Rotherham.’

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The Guardian, 30th August 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Rotherham child sex abuse: Five jailed for exploiting girls – BBC News

Posted August 30th, 2019 in child abduction, child abuse, children, news, rape, sentencing, sexual grooming, sexual offences by tracey

‘Rotherham child sex abuse: Five jailed for exploiting girls.’

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BBC News, 30th August 2019

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Crossing borders with children as a separated parent – Family Law

Posted February 5th, 2019 in child abduction, children, consent, families, identification, names, news by tracey

‘With the Christmas holidays just behind us, one of the most common issues that usually arise during that time of the year – between separated parents – is seeking permission to take their child on holiday or to visit family abroad. Gemma Davison an associate at Spratt Endicott, looks at the details.’

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Family Law, 5th February 2019

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

High court judge tweets appeal for missing mother to bring son home – The Guardian

Posted February 4th, 2019 in child abduction, internet, judges, news by sally

‘A high court judge has used Twitter to urge a woman who disappeared with her three-year-old son six months ago to return home.’

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The Guardian, 2nd February 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Is it time for the 1980 Hague Convention to be revised? – Family Law

Posted November 7th, 2018 in child abduction, enforcement, news, treaties by sally

‘The Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (“1980 Hague Convention”) is a multilateral treaty developed by the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH). There are currently 99 Contracting Parties to the 1980 Hague Convention and it is often lauded as one of, if not the most, successful international family law initiatives.’

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Family Law, 7th November 2018

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

Mother jailed for abducting daughters to USA – BBC News

Posted September 11th, 2018 in child abduction, extradition, news, sentencing by tracey

‘A British mother has admitted abducting her two children and moving to Alaska to live with her new partner without their father’s permission.’

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BBC News, 10th September 2018

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

The need for a ‘joined up’ or holistic evaluation of welfare in children proceedings – Family Law

Posted August 29th, 2018 in care orders, child abduction, EC law, enforcement, foreign jurisdictions, judgments, news by sally

‘In AH v CD and others [2018] EWHC 1643 (Fam), [2018] All ER (D) 162 (Jun) an application by a father who sought his son’s return to Spain, after the child was taken out of the jurisdiction by his mother, raised issues under the 1980 Hague Convention, and also as to the discharge of a care order made by a court which had not been told of the child’s father’s whereabouts. Richard Jones, barrister at 1 Garden Court Chambers, explains the issues.’

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Family Law, 28th August 2018

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

Leaving the country to evade care proceedings – how does the court in England & Wales get your children back? – Transparency Project

Posted August 15th, 2018 in care orders, child abduction, EC law, news by sally

‘The following opinion of an Advocate General in the European Court of Justice (NB not the European Court of Human Rights at Strasbourg) is an interesting investigation as to how the courts of two different EU Member States work together to deal with the situation where parents have unlawfully removed their children from one country to the other – together with some strong criticism of how those countries failed to abide by important procedural safeguards to protect the rights of both the parents and the children.’

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Transparency Project, 14th August 2018

Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk

‘Habitual Residence’ – sloppy explanations of the law about child abduction – Transparency Project

Posted August 10th, 2018 in child abduction, domicile, news by sally

‘Mistakes in news and media coverage of the topic often fall down around the explanations of ‘habitual residence’, a term which has a particular legal meaning (and which has seen many lawyers and judges in a tangle) – and which is of crucial importance to whether a child has technically been ‘abducted’ at all, and whether they should be sent back ‘home’.’

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Transparency Project, 9th August 2018

Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk