Penalties and sanctions available to the Court for breach of a Children Act order
What is a Children Act Order?
The Children Act (1989 and 2004) makes a number of provisions, including orders about arrangements for Looked-After Children, and residence and contact arrangements for children whose parents have separated or divorced.
The majority of separated or divorced couples with dependent children are able to agree arrangements for their children on their own or with the aid of mediation, but in some cases the Court will be required to make an order under the Children Act.
Residence and Contact Orders
Residence orders apply to a child under the age of 16 apart from in exceptional circumstances, and specify where the child will live. This may be with one person, or a shared care order.
The Resident parent or the parent, with whom the child lives, is responsible under the terms of a Contact Order to make the child available to have contact with, stay with or visit the person named in the order. There are many different types of contact including direct face-to-face contact (supervised or unsupervised) and indirect contact such as letters, e-mails, skype and telephone calls. The order might be very specific or make broader provisions. In some cases, contact will be supervised by a third party where there are risk factors. Although many people immediately think of a parent’s contact with their child, a Contact Order might also include contact with siblings and the wider family.
A number of different people can apply for a residence or contact order including parents, guardians and people who have parental responsibility. Others, such as grandparents, first need to ask the Court for permission to make an application for contact or residence.
What can happen if I breach a Children Act Order?
Up until 2008, there were limited options available to the Court for parents who did not comply with a contact or residence order. However, the Court is now able to impose a range of penalties for non-compliance, and all contact orders come with a warning notice telling people the potential consequences breaching an order such as:
- Undertaking up to 200 hours of unpaid work.
- The non-compliant person having to pay for any financial losses that have occurred to the other party as a result of the breach of the contact order. For example, pre-arranged trips out or holidays.
- Holding the person who is non-compliant in contempt of court. This usually applies to someone who has continued to breach or refuses to comply with a contact order. If this happens a fine can be imposed or in the most serious cases, a prison sentence of up to two years.
- Changing residence of the child to whom the contact order applies.
The Court would not impose a penalty where there was a reasonable excuse for failing to comply with the order.
In all cases the Court will always consider the best interests of the child concerned first, both when ordering residence and contact and in issuing penalties to anyone who does not comply. This means they consider the impact of any penalties on the non-compliant person and whether the penalty is proportionate to the breach.
If you are involved in a dispute over a residence or contact order, you should always seek legal advice, and remember that the best interests of the child or children involved should be your first priority.
