Family Courts Act 2024
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Amendment of Child Abduction and Enforcement of Custody Orders Act 1991 | ||
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79. The Child Abduction and Enforcement of Custody Orders Act 1991 is amended— | ||
(a) in section 2, in the definition of “the Court”, by the substitution of “Family High Court” for “High Court”, and | ||
(b) in section 37— | ||
(i) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (5): | ||
“(5) Where a child is delivered into the care of the Child and Family Agency under subsection (2)(c) of this section, the Child and Family Agency shall apply— | ||
(a) at the next sitting of the Family District Court, | ||
(b) in circumstances of urgency where no judge of the Family District Court is available to hear the application, at the next sitting of the District Court, or | ||
(c) in the event that the next sitting of the Family District Court is not due to be held within 3 days of the date on which the child is delivered into the care of the Child and Family Agency, at a specially arranged sitting of the Family District Court held within the said 3 days, | ||
for directions as to the child’s release from such care or otherwise in relation to the child’s care and the Family District Court or the District Court, as the case may be, may make such order as it thinks proper in the circumstances regarding custody of and, where appropriate, access to, the child, taking into account any order referred to in subsection (1) of this section relating to the child and without prejudice to proceedings that may be pending or any application that is about to be made for one of those orders in relation to the child.”, | ||
(ii) in subsection (6), by the substitution of “Family District Court” for “District Court”, and | ||
(iii) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (7): | ||
“(7) The jurisdiction of the Family District Court in respect of proceedings under subsection (5) of this section may be exercised by the judge of the Family District Court for the time being assigned to the Family District Court district where the child resides or was at a material time residing and where a judge for the Family District Court district in which the proceedings are brought is not immediately available, an order may be made by any judge of the Family District Court.”. |