International parental child abduction in England and Wales

Somebody seeking guidance on a specific case of international parental child abduction should seek specialist legal advice based on all the facts of their case. They may also seek assistance from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the charity Reunite International.

Criminal law

Under section 1 of the Child Abduction Act 1984, it is a criminal offence for a “connected person” (for example, their parent) to take a child out of the UK without the “appropriate consent”. “Appropriate consent” includes the consent of a child’s mother and, if he has parental responsibility for the child, the child’s father.

Currently, the Child Abduction Act 1984 does not provide for an offence where a connected person has consent to take a child out of the UK but then fails to return them. This was highlighted in a 2014 report by the Law Commission, which recommended a change in the law.

The Crime and Policing Bill 2024-25, which is currently progressing through Parliament would implement the Law Commission’s recommendation. The bill would extend the offence in the Child Abduction Act 1984 to cover cases where a connected person takes or sends a child under 16 out of the UK with the appropriate consent, but then detains the child outside the UK without the appropriate consent.

The Hague Convention on International Child Abduction

The 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction is an international agreement which seeks to combat parental child abduction by providing a system of co-operation between countries and a procedure for the return of abducted children to the country of their habitual residence.

The convention provides three defences against returning a child, including that doing so would expose the child to a “grave risk” of physical or psychological harm or otherwise place them in an “intolerable situation”.

The “grave risk of harm” defence may be relevant where a child has been exposed to domestic abuse. However, it has been argued that one of the convention’s biggest shortcomings is that it failed to anticipate that many abductors would be domestic abuse victims fleeing their abuser.

Abduction to non-convention countries

For the 1980 Hague Convention to apply, the state the child is removed from and the state they are removed to or retained in must both be “contracting states” to the convention.

Where a child is taken to a non-convention country, the remedies available to secure their return are more limited and it may be necessary to issue legal proceedings in the country the child has been taken to.