The introduction of legislation criminalising the wrongful retention of children abroad is a welcome development, by a family law solicitor warns the change won’t protect families that are already affected.
The newly enacted Crime and Policing Act 2026, which received Royal Assent on 29th April, extends the Child Abduction Act 1984 so that parents who take a child abroad with consent and refuse to return them could face criminal sanctions once the relevant provisions come into force. The commencement date has not yet been confirmed.
But Kim Lehal (pictured), a family law partner at RWK Goodman who specialises in international child abduction and relocation, warns the change could present new challenges in encouraging voluntary returns and making return orders.
She explained: “In some Hague Convention cases, the left-behind parent is asked to promise that they will not pursue criminal proceedings if the abducting parent agrees to return the child. The creation of a new criminal offence for wrongful retention may complicate negotiations around voluntary returns and return orders in some cases.”
Previously, English and Welsh law criminalised ‘wrongful removal’, where a child was taken abroad without consent. However, wrongful retention’, where a child was retained overseas after an agreed holiday or trip abroad, was not a criminal offence.
Conversely, the Hague Convention has long treated wrongful retention and wrongful removal equally in civil proceedings concerning the international return of children. Until now, however, the criminal law in England and Wales distinguished between the two.
“As a family lawyer specialising in international child abduction, I often advise parents whose children have failed to return home after an agreed holiday abroad with the other parent,” Lehal explained. “Telling those parents that such wrongful retention was not a criminal offence in England and Wales has been one of the hardest parts of my job.
“The new legislation is undoubtedly welcome and long overdue. Once it is in force, it will finally bring the criminal law closer into line with the reality faced by many families and with the approach already recognised under the Hague Convention.
“It will be interesting to see whether the change in the law will act as a deterrent, preventing wrongful retentions or whether it will make obtaining return orders more difficult.
“However, the legislation will not apply retrospectively once the new provision comes into force. For parents whose children were retained abroad before the law comes into force, there remains no criminal recourse.”
