Children Act 1975

51 Restriction on removal of child where applicant has provided home for three years

(1) Where a person has applied for custody of a child, it shall be an offence, except with the authority of a court or under authority conferred by any enactment or on the arrest of the child, to remove the child from the custody of the applicant against the will of the applicant if—

(a) the child has been in the care and possession of that person for a period or periods before the making of the application which amount to at least three years; and

(b) the application is pending in any court.

(2) In any case where subsection (1) applies, and

(a) the child was in the care of a local authority before he began to have his home with the applicant, and

(b) the child remains in the care of a local authority,

the authority in whose care the child is shall not remove the child from the applicant's custody except—

(i) with the applicant's consent;

(ii) with the leave of a court; or

(iii) with the authority, in terms of Part III of the [1968 c. 49.] Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, of a justice of the peace or a children's hearing.

(3) Any person who contravenes the provisions of subsection (1) commits an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or a fine not exceeding £400 or both.

(4) The Secretary of State may by order, a draft of which has been approved by each House of Parliament, amend subsection (1) to substitute a different period for the period mentioned in that subsection (or for the period which, by a previous order under this subsection, was substituted for that period).