Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Child abduction definition

What does Child abduction mean? In legal practice, child abduction describes the wrongful removal or wrongful retention of a child from the care or control of a person with parental responsibility/parental responsibilities and rights, or under a custody/child arrangements order, without the necessary consent or a court order. It includes taking or keeping a child out of the jurisdiction. The term is used across family and criminal law. In England & Wales and Northern Ireland, parental and non-parental child abduction offences are principally created by the Child Abduction Act 1984 and the Child Abduction (Northern Ireland) Order 1985. In Scotland, parental child abduction...

Responding to 1980 Hague child abduction: exceptions to return, habitual residence, child’s views, judicial discretion and asylum/immigration interface (England and Wales)

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Practice notes

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This Practice Note

This Practice Note outlines the narrow exceptions that can be advanced in response to an application pursuant to the Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child abduction (the 1980 Hague Convention), encompassing a child’s settlement in a new jurisdiction, consent, acquiescence or failure to exercise rights of custody by the left-behind parent, a serious risk of physical or psychological harm if return is ordered, and the child’s objection to return. It also addresses the courts’ overall stance in child abduction matters regarding the exercise of discretion and immigration considerations. A taking parent will frequently rely on more than one of the available arguments. Strictly speaking, although widely used, the label ‘defences’ is a misnomer; instead, there are narrowly drawn ‘exceptions’ to the ordinary consequences of a wrongful removal, rather than true ‘defences’ that exonerate a parent’s wrongful conduct.

For practical guidance on proceedings under the 1980 Hague Convention, see:

Child abduction—introduction and issuing proceedings (1980 Hague Convention)
Child abduction—procedure and evidence (Hague Convention)
Hague Conventions—toolkit for family practitioners
Child abduction—applications under the 1980 Hague Convention—flowchart

For guidance on the impact of the...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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