Taking child out of the jurisdiction
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Normal trips, holidays
Basically a parent who has residence is allowed to take the children out of the country for up to 28 days without consulting the other parent.
If both parents have residence then each needs to seek agreement from the other to take the kids out of the country.
What we mean by out of the country should really be phrased out of the juristiction of England and Wales.
See also: Leave to Remove
Moving to go abroad
If a mother wants to take the kids to another country to live there is not much that you can do about it - except perhaps delay. The courts will take the view that if it makes mother happier to take the kids away then they will allow it (if mother is happy then the kids who live with her will be happy also). This back to front logic is typical of the courts.
2011: There seems an improvement in the wind, see: Leave to Remove
Abduction
If a child is taken out of the country, without your agreement or court order, then you must act quickly.
If the country that they have been taken to has signed the Hague Convention then the children will be returned to their country of residence. If the country has not signed the Hague Convention then you will need to fight in that country's courts. List of Convention Countries.
The Poel Group may be able to help if you have these problems.
See:
- Removal from Jurisdiction - UK cases
- I’m Leaving on a Jet Plane, Don't Know When I’ll Be Back Again: Can I Take The Children With Me?
- Men's aid, Poel Vs Poel 1970
- Reunite are reported to have experience in brokering mediated contact agreements.
- Child Abduction after In Re D (A Child) - case law
- W (Children) [2008 EWCA Civ 538 Leave to Remove - listening to children, examination]
Government help:
- Foreign & Commonwealth Office
- Direct Gov International child abduction
- International Child Abduction and Contact Unit (ICACU)
- Passport applications and child abduction
In the Press
Statistics
The following numbers were provided by the UK's Ministry of Justice in July 2011:
- Abductions by country 2008 to 2010 (by case)
- Abductions by age of child 2007 to 2009 (by child)
- Percentage of abductions by sex of child 2007 to 2009 (by child)
- Percentage of abductions by mother or father 2007 to 2009 (by case)
A case may involve more than one child - which is why the numbers are not the same. These numbers only cover Hague Convention countries. An Incoming return case - this means a child abducted from another country to the UK, an Outgoing return case - this means a child habitually resident in the UK being abducted to another country.
Other Help
- The Committee for Missing Children based in the USA
