Legal Update: Legal Q&A - Contact Orders
Coram Children's Legal Centre
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Q. How can child contact and residence be enforced in orders made before April 2014?
A. All Contact Orders issued after 8 December 2008 have a warning notice attached allowing an enforcement application to be made to court using a C79 form.
The court can issue sanctions for breaching a court order, including, for example a requirement to do unpaid work, issuing a fine and in some circumstances, a custodial sentence. In the situation where a child is being kept behind in breach of a Residence Order and there are concerns about the child's welfare, then an application can be made for an order authorising a police officer to return the child.
As of 22 April 2014, Contact and Residence Orders were replaced by Child Arrangements Orders. The new law allows these orders to be enforced in their entirety. It remains a grey area whether any provision not relating to contact in an order made before this date is enforceable in a court. The advice is that if she is seeking to enforce a Residence Order made before 22 April 2014 she can use the C79 form but must be specific about what contact arrangements have been breached and what she wants enforced.
These forms can be found on www.justice.gov.uk or from your local family court. There are also guidance forms on completing them.
Do you have any questions?
Email them to clc@essex.ac.uk or call the Child Law Advice Line on 08088 020 008, The National Education Line on 0845 345 4345, Or visit www.childrenslegalcentre.com
