Courts (No. 2) Act, 1986

Enforcement of certain orders under Guardianship of Infants Act, 1964.

5.— (1) In this section “the Act of 1964” means the Guardianship of Infants Act, 1964 , as amended by the Courts Act, 1981 , and the Age of Majority Act, 1985 .

(2) Without prejudice to the law as to contempt of court, where the District Court has made an order under section 7 or section 11 of the Act of 1964 containing a direction regarding—

(a) the custody of an infant, or

(b) the right of access to an infant,

any, person having the actual custody of the infant who, having been given or shown a copy of the order and—

(i) having been required, by or on behalf of a person to whom the custody of the infant is committed by the direction, to give up the infant to that person, or

(ii) having been required, by or on behalf of a person entitled to access to the infant in accordance with the direction, to allow that person to have such access,

fails or refuses to comply with the requirement shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £200 or, at the discretion of the Court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

(3) For the purposes of this section a person shall be deemed to have been given or shown a copy of an order made under section 7 or section 11 of the Act of 1964 if that person was present at the sitting of the Court at which such order was made.

(4) The references in subsections (1) and (7) of section 8 of the Enforcement of Court Orders Act, 1940 , to an order shall be construed as including references to a maintenance order made under section 7 (6) or section 11 (2) (b) of the Act of 1964 and to a variation order made under section 12 of the Act of 1964.