CRIMINAL LAW CONSOLIDATION ACT 1935 - SECT 40

CRIMINAL LAW CONSOLIDATION ACT 1935 - SECT 40

40—Unlawful removal of child from jurisdiction

        (1)         A person who wrongfully takes or sends a child out of the jurisdiction is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty:

            (a)         for a basic offence—imprisonment for 15 years;

            (b)         for an aggravated offence—imprisonment for 19 years.

        (2)         For the purposes of subsection (1), a person acts wrongfully if—

            (a)         the person acts in the knowledge that a person who has the lawful custody of the child (either alone or jointly with someone else) does not consent to the child being taken or sent out of the jurisdiction; and

Note—

As a general rule, the parents of a child have joint custody of the child (see Guardianship of Infants Act 1940 , section 4).

            (b)         there is no judicial or statutory authority for the person's act.