NCJ Number
99610
Date Published
Unknown
Length
26 pages
Annotation
Following a review of current child abduction provisions in Scotland and their deficiences, four categories of child abduction which should be made criminal are delineated.
Abstract
At present, child abduction is covered by three major provisions: plagium (the common law crime of child stealing), which makes abduction a property offense in cases involving children below the age of puberty; the law of abduction, which requires an element of involuntariness that could cause problems when applied to minors; and the 1984 Child Abduction Act, which makes it an offense for a parent or guardian to remove a child from the United Kingdom without the appropriate consent of parents, guardians, and/or the court. It is argued that plagium is an outmoded concept and should be abolished, and that the 1984 Child Abduction Act is too broad in its consent reuirements and too narrow in not covering abductions by strangers (i.e., nonparents or noncustodians). It is suggested that four categories of abduction should be made criminal: the taking of a child to cause harm or distress; abduction of a child from the lawful control of another; removal of a child from an other's control by the use of violence; and taking a child out of the country when there is a court order expressly forbidding it or when the abduction is meant to prevent the child's custody status from being decided or controlled by the Scottish courts. Included is a 17-item questionnaire soliciting comments on the analysis and proposed law reforms.