Child Abduction Act 1984

JurisdictionUK Non-devolved
(1) Subject to subsections (5) and (8) below, a person connected with a child under the age of sixteen commits an offence if he takes or sends the child out of the United Kingdom without the appropriate consent.he is a parent of the child; orin the case of a child whose parents were not married toF40, 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; orhe is a guardian of the child; orhe is a special guardian of the child; orhe is a person F36named in a child arrangements order as a person with whom the child is to live; orhe has custody of the child.The child’s mother;the child’s father, if he has parental responsibility for him;any guardian of the child;any special guardian of the child;any person named in a child arrangements order as a person with whom the child is to live;any person who has custody of the child; orthe leave of the court granted under or by virtue of any provision of Part II of the Children Act 1989; orif any person has custody of the child, the leave of the court which awarded custody to him.he is a person F34named in a child arrangements order as a person with whom the child is to live and he takes or sends the child out of the United Kingdom for a period of less than one month; orhe is a special guardian of the child and he takes or sends the child out of the United Kingdom for a period of less than three months.(4A) Subsection (4) above does not apply if the person taking or sending the child out of the United Kingdom does so in breach of an order under Part II of the Children Act 1989.has consented; orwould consent if he was aware of all the relevant circumstances; orhe has taken all reasonable steps to communicate with the other person but has been unable to communicate with him; orthe other person has unreasonably refused to consent,named in a child arrangements order as a person with whom the child is to live;who is a special guardian of the child; orwho has custody of the child; orthe person taking or sending the child out of the United Kingdom is, by so acting, in breach of an order made by a court in the United Kingdom.(6) Where, in proceedings for an offence under this section, there is sufficent evidence to raise an issue as to the application of subsection (5) above, it shall be for the prosecution to prove that that subsection does not apply.guardian of a child”, F27 “special guardian”, F35child arrangements order” and “parental responsibility” have the same meaning as in the Children Act 1989; and a person shall be treated as having custody of a child if there is in force an order of a court in the United Kingdom awarding him (whether solely or jointly with another person) custody, legal custody or care and control of the child.(8) This section shall have effect subject to the provisions of the Schedule to this Act in relation to a child who is in the care of a local authority F4detained in a place of safety, remanded F31otherwise than on bail or the subject of proceedings or an order relating to adoption.

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