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Consular Department
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Clive House Retty France London SW1H 9HD
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Telephone 01-213 4614
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UNCLASSIFIED
All Dependent Territories
Your reference
Our reference
GK 223/5
GK223/5
Date
11 September 1985
1.1.87
THE CHILD ABDUCTION AND CUSTODY ACT 1985: EXTENSION TO DEPENDENT TERRITORIES
1. The Child Abduction and Custody Act 1985, of which a copy is enclosed, received the Royal Assent on 25 July 1985. The Act will enable the United Kingdom, in co-operation with over- seas countries, to combat more effectively the growing social problem of "international child kidnapping", and will assist parents and others having rights of custody to obtain the return of an abducted child or the enforcement of a custody decision which has been made in their favour. It will achieve this by enabling the UK to ratify and implement the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction of the Hague Conference on Private International Law signed on 25 October 1980 at the Hague, and the Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Decisions concerning Custody of Children and on Restoration of Custody of Children of the Council of Europe signed on 20 May 1980 at Luxembourg, of which copies are also enclosed.
2. The Hague Convention relates to the return of children wrongly removed from the country where they are habitually resident, and the European Convention deals with the recognition and enforcement of child custody decisions. These two Conventions seek, by different routes, to provide an international solution to the problem of international child kidnapping. The UK intends to ratify both Conventions before the end of this year.
3.
It is hoped that the Act can be brought into force in the first half of 1986. However, ratification of the two Conventions by the UK must first take place. Subordinate legislation is also required to enable legal aid to be granted to applicants under both Conventions, and for rules of court to enable applications to be made to the High Court in England and Wales and Northern Ireland and to the Court of Session in Scotland.
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