Vol. 545 No. 1
302 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the actions he will take to assist a person whose child has been removed from the State by the other parent of the child, without agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30033/01]
Where a child under the age 16 is removed from the State in breach of a parent's guardianship rights by a parent of that child, the left-behind parent can make an application under the Hague Convention on the civil aspects of international child abduction or under the European convention on recognition and enforcement of decisions concerning custody of children and on restoration of custody of children, known as the Luxembourg Convention. The purpose of the conventions is to facilitate the return of children who have been taken from one contracting state to another against the wishes of a parent with guardianship rights. In addition, there is provision under the Luxembourg Convention for a custody or access order granted in one contracting state to be recognised or enforced in another contracting state. The Child Abduction and Enforcement of Custody Orders Act, 1991, gives the force of law in Ireland to these conventions. There is a network of central authorities established under the conventions for the purposes of assisting applicants and generally ensuring the effective operation of the conventions. My Department operates as the central authority for Ireland.
Where a child has been removed from the State in the circumstances already described, the Irish central authority can help the left-behind parent to avail of the provisions of the conventions by: assisting with the completion of an application form; arranging for a translation if necessary; transmitting the application to the corresponding foreign central authority; and monitoring the progress of the application.
The role of the central authority for the jurisdiction to where the child has been removed is to attempt to discover the whereabouts of the child and secure the return of the child either voluntarily or by initiating court proceedings in that jurisdiction.
The Irish Central Authority provides its services free of charge. It can be contacted by telephone at (01) 663 2656 or 2650.
Parental child abduction is an offence under section 16 of the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act, 1997. This section applies to a parent, guardian or a person to whom custody of the child has been granted by a court but does not apply to a parent who is not a guardian of the child. It provides that it is an offence for a person to send or keep a child under the age of 16 years out of the State or cause a child under that age to be so taken, sent or kept: in defiance of a court order; or without the consent of each person who is a parent, or guardian or person to whom custody of the child has been granted by a court unless the consent of a court was obtained.
A parent who is not the guardian of a child is guilty of an offence under section 17 of the 1997 Act if he takes or removes a child from the lawful control of a person.
A person found guilty of an offence under either section is liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £1,500 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both, or on conviction on indictment to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years or to both.
It is open to a person who considers that an offence under either section has been committed to report the matter to the Garda Síochána.
