UK criminalises keeping children abroad without consent
Punch Nigeria · Tosin Oyediran ·
The United Kingdom has criminalised the detention of children abroad beyond an agreed period without the appropriate consent, introducing a new offence punishable by up to seven years' imprisonment.
The United Kingdom has criminalised the detention of children abroad beyond an agreed period without the appropriate consent, introducing a new offence punishable by up to seven years’ imprisonment.
The new provision makes it an offence for a parent or another person connected with a child under the age of 16 to keep the child outside the UK without the required consent, even where the child was initially taken abroad lawfully.
The offence, which came into force on Friday, November 6, under section 137 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026, amends the Child Abduction Act 1984 to address a longstanding gap in the country’s child abduction laws.
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