This petition was submitted during the 2017-2019 parliament
Petition make it a criminal offence for a parent to deny contact after a court order
Currently there is nothing preventing a parent from not abiding to a court access order, meaning the non resident parent will have to repeatedly return to court to have it enforced. This has a negative emotional impact on both the parent and children. It's also time consuming and very costly.
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The police agree this happens too often, but they cant help because it is not a criminal offence, and can only advise returning to court, but unfortunately this can become a never ending cycle . Some parents even go as far as trying to cut the other parent out Completely, which is known as parental alienation. Research is being done on the negative emotional impact losing time with a loving parent has on children, and the law needs to be updated to reflect this and protect children and families.
This petition is closed This petition ran for 6 months