Unfortunately, it is not at all unusual for the police to become involved in contact disputes, especially where there are problems when the children are (or are supposed to be) handed over from one parent to the other. However, can they force the parent with whom the children live to hand them over to the parent in whose favour a contact order has been made?
The simple answer is that the police will not want to get involved in this way. Their primary concern will be that the children are safe, and if they are happy that they are, they will not normally intervene, even if it appears that a court order is being breached (obviously, they would intervene if a crime has been committed).
If a contact order has been breached, then the parent in whose favour it was made will have to return to the court to enforce it. There are a number of ways that courts can enforce contact orders, and a specialist family lawyer will be able to advise upon the best course of action to take.
This is another example of how children are failed by the system. When I was a Family Support Worker in Cafcass we were asked to supervise contacts and handovers when there were threats and high conflict disputes between parents. It was a role for social work, to get in there and try to work directly with parents.
ReplyDeleteIt gave us clear evidence about the nature of the disputes and their impact on children which we could then report back to courts. Now that meant we got it in the neck sometimes from parents, but it was a real vehicle and opportunity for meaningful change...now another hole in a very shabby looking sweater has appeared.
If you're suggesting that the police should get involved, I'm not sure that I agree with you.
DeleteNeither do I. But it is high time for judges to start from a presumption that a parent teaching a child that it is all right not to obey the court's order is unfit for the role of parent . . . that might lead some mothers, and it usually is mothers, to decide that they could after all allow little Johnny to see Daddy as directed without the sky falling in.
ReplyDeleteJohn,
ReplyDeleteI know the police will not want to get involved (although I have known them to do so when a parent has refused to return a child) but what is the answer to the question posed? Regardless of their inclination to do so, do the police have authority to take any action to enforce a contact order?
The police can take any action they think appropriate to ensure the safety of a child, but enforcing civil court orders is not their job. Certainly, they would be likely to come in for heavy criticism if they were to do it routinely - it is for the court to decide whether an order has been breached, whether that breach was justified and what is the best next step, having regard to the welfare of the child.
Delete