§ Mr. HawkinsTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what plans he has to amend the law to enable the Official Solicitor, when acting as(a) guardian ad litem, to initiate applications to a court seeking an Order to prevent the removal of a child from the jurisdiction, and (b) to bring application in overseas courts under the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction. [99726]
§ Jane KennedyThe Government has no plans to amend the law in this way.
§ Mr. HawkinsTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department which factors are considered by the Official Solicitor in considering whether or not to draw to a court's attention a possible risk that a child may be abducted and taken outside the jurisdiction of the UK courts. [99725]
§ Jane KennedyThe responsibility for acting to prevent the unlawful removal of a child from the jurisdiction rests with the holder of parental responsibility for the child. If the Official Solicitor is involved in the case and in the202W course of his inquiries discovers that there is a real and imminent danger of removal, he would advise the holder of parental responsibility so that appropriate action could be taken by that person.
The factors which would create a real and imminent danger would vary with each case, but might include the absence of the child from his usual home, information received about the purchase of tickets, or the failure to surrender the child's passport as ordered by the court.