IRELAND AND CHILD ABDUCTION: A Haven for Love-Tug Abductors

Figures obtained by the Irish Independent show there were 46 new Hague Convention cases in the High Court in 2007.

This compares with 31 in 2005, and just 27 cases three years ago.

The figures have raised further fears that Ireland, whose written Constitution affords greater protection to married parents -- particularly birth mothers -- is becoming the international child-abduction centre of choice for warring couples.

Earlier this year, the Irish Independent reported that the High Court refused to repatriate several children in high-profile abduction cases, even though they were habitually resident elsewhere.

Ireland is a signatory to the Hague Convention, an international child abduction law which requires the immediate return of children wrongfully removed from signatory countries, including Britain and America.

But experts are concerned that the Government is not tracking the extent of child abduction to and from non-Hague countries, including Muslim countries.

Parental abduction of Irish-born children, and children of Muslim immigrants, is a growing phenomenon in Ireland, and is endemic throughout Europe.

But recovering children from Islamic countries is an almost impossible task, as fathers' rights take precedence over the wishes of mothers and children in almost all circumstances.

"The fact that Hague Convention cases are on the rise is hugely worrying," said a Government adviser.

"Because of the convention, there is now a huge incentive to abduct children to countries where the laws do not apply."

Last year, 46 of the cases which started in the High Court concerned 63 children, of whom 22 were aged under five years, 26 were aged between five and 10 years and 15 children were 10 years or older.

Of the 46 cases, final orders were made for the return of children in 25 cases.

Judges also ruled that children should stay in Ireland in 15 cases, and interim orders were made in the remaining six cases.

Some 2,000 children have been embroiled in abduction proceedings here in the past 15 years, which last year reached a record high involving 160 children.

Early indications from those familiar with the work of the Central Authority for Child Abduction say those figures are set to rise.

Almost twice as many children are abducted into Ireland as are removed from the country.

And 70 per cent of new cases involve children who have been abducted outside the State and brought here.

But Ireland's apparent reluctance to repatriate abducted children has led some legal experts to privately complain that Ireland has become a safe haven for abductor parents.

Published by: ABP World Group International Child Recovery Service

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Commencement of the Protection of Children (Hague Convention) Act 2000

The Minister for Justice and Law Reform, Mr Dermot Ahern, T.D., today announced that he has signed the commencement order for the Protection of Children (Hague Convention) Act 2000. The Act will come into operation on 1 January 2011.


The Act gives the force of law to the 1996 Hague Convention on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Co-operation in Respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children. The Minister said “I welcome the coming into force of this, the third of the Hague Children’s Conventions. It will bring enhanced protection to children in transnational families in relation to a wide range of civil measures of protection concerning children, including orders concerning parental responsibility and contact, public measures of protection or care, and matters relating to the protection of children’s property.”

A Central Authority for the International Protection of Children in the Department of Justice and Law Reform will perform the functions arising from the Convention. The functions of the central authority are of an administrative nature involving co-operation with the central authorities of other contracting states and providing information to authorities in other jurisdictions on the law and services in the State relating to the protection of children.

Areas of co-operation include providing assistance in locating a child who may be in need of protection, providing a social report on the situation of the child, facilitating agreed solutions for the protection of the child or the property of the child on the request of another contracting state.
Ireland was among the first states to legislate for the Convention but ratification of it by EU states was delayed pending resolution of issues of EU competence and authorisation.

Sourced from Merrionstreet.ie

Published by: ABP World Group International Child Recovery Service

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Passport applications and child abductions

Child abduction is a rare but serious crime. It happens when a child is taken out of the country without consent (often by one parent against the wishes of the other). If your child is at risk, the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) may be able to help.

The law on taking a child out of the country

It is a crime for anyone connected with a child under 16 to take or send that child out of the UK without appropriate consent. This is set out in the Child Abduction Act 1984.

To explain:

• the people ‘connected with a child’ are the child’s parents, guardians and people with a residence order or who have parental responsibility
• ‘appropriate consent’ is the consent of the mother, the father (if he has parental responsibility), the guardian and anyone with a residence order or parental responsibility, or the leave (permission) of the court

Fathers and parental responsibility

You can find more detailed information on parental responsibility and what it means in ‘Parental rights and responsibilities’.

In general, a child's father has automatic parental responsibility only if he is or has been married to the child's mother. However, since

• 15 April 2002 in Northern Ireland
• 1 December 2003 in England and Wales
• 4 May 2006 in Scotland

a father also has parental responsibility if he jointly registers the birth with the child’s mother. He may also be granted parental responsibility by the court or by written agreement with the child’s mother.

Residence orders

Someone with a residence order may take or send the child out of the UK without consent for up to a month at a time.

A residence order is issued under Section 8 of the Children’s Act 1989. It confirms who a child is to live with. The person named in the order automatically gets parental responsibility if they did not already have it, but not sole parental responsibility. This means they cannot:

• take the child out of the country for more than one month
• change the child’s name without the consent of everyone with parental responsibility, as explained above, or a court order

How the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) can help prevent child abduction

Normally IPS will issue a passport for a child if the application is made by:

• either parent (provided the parent making the application has parental responsibility, as explained above)
• another person with parental responsibility

If you have a court order that forbids the issue of a passport without your consent or the consent of the court, you should let IPS know. In these cases IPS will not issue a passport for the child if the application comes from anyone else claiming to have parental responsibility.

The following types of court order can be used:

• a prohibited steps order made under the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 or the Children Act 1989
• an interdict made under the Children (Scotland) Act 1995
• an order confirming that the child's removal from the country is against the wishes of the court
• a residence order under any of the three Acts above, which has been made in your favour
• an order awarding you custody of the child or care and control over the child
• an order stating that you must give your consent before the child can be removed from the country
• an order upholding your objections to the child having a passport or leaving the country

If you don't have a court order you can still ask IPS not to issue a passport for your child, provided you are the child’s mother and both of the following are true:

• you have not been married to the child's father
• the father has not acquired parental responsibility

Published by: ABP World Group International Child Recovery Service

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