Div 9Kidnapping and unlawful child removal

Division 9—Kidnapping and unlawful child removal 38—Interpretation child means a person under the age of 18 years; detain—detention is not limited to forcible restraint but extends to any means by which a person gets another to remain in a particular place or with a particular person or persons; take—a person takes another if the person compels, entices or persuades the other to accompany him or her or a third person. 39—Kidnapping (1) A person who takes or detains another person, without the other person's consent— (a) with the intention of holding the other person to ransom or as a hostage; or (b) with the intention of committing an indictable offence against the other person or a third person, (a) for a basic offence—imprisonment for 20 years; (b) for an aggravated offence—imprisonment for 25 years. (2) A consent to the taking or detention is to be ignored in the following cases: (a) if the person apparently giving the consent is a child or mentally incapable of understanding the significance of the consent; (b) if the consent was obtained by duress or deception. 40—Unlawful removal of child from jurisdiction (1) A person who wrongfully takes or sends a child out of the jurisdiction is guilty of an offence. (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), a person acts wrongfully if— (a) the person acts in the knowledge that a person who has the lawful custody of the child (either alone or jointly with someone else) does not consent to the child being taken or sent out of the jurisdiction; and As a general rule, the parents of a child have joint custody of the child (see Guardianship of Infants Act 1940, section 4). (b) there is no judicial or statutory authority for the person's act.