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This petition was submitted during the 2019 to 2024 Parliament

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Closed petition Amend the Child Abduction Act to criminalise failure to return a child to UK

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UK Government to close the legal loop-hole known as the “Nicolaou problem”, named after the legal case which found that, if a child is taken abroad legally but then illegally detained there, no criminal offence is committed.

I want the Government to close a 36 year old legal loop-hole, known as the “Nicolaou problem. The “Nicolaou problem” named after the legal case, which found that, if a child is taken abroad legally but then illegally detained there, no criminal offence is committed.
This means no arrest warrant can be issued by the British police, no extradition can be sought, and that parents are left at the mercy of foreign courts and their officers for help tracking down and recovering their child.

313 signatures


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    This petition will stay open until 13 April 2021.