Kidnapping & Abduction

False imprisonment

A person is guilty of the offence or false imprisonment if he intentionally or recklessly takes or detains or causes to be taken or detained or otherwise restricts the personal liberty of another, without his consent.  This offence covers kidnapping and false imprisonment. It replaced the common law offence of kidnapping.

Consent must be freely given as in the case of assault. See generally the chapter on consent and defences to assault.

The offence is analogous to the civil wrong of false imprisonment.  It is constituted by the restraint of the personal liberty of a person by imprisoning him or compelling him to go or stay in a particular place or detaining him against his will.  The person must be restricted in all directions.

A person may commit false imprisonment by way of wrongful arrest.  An arrest may cease to be lawful if the arrested person is no longer held.  This may become evident by reason of the absence of reasonable grounds suspicion or on account of new information.

A person is deemed to act without the victim’s consent if he obtains the victim’s consent by force threat of force or deception or believing he is under a legal compulsion to consent.

The penalty on conviction summarily is fine up to €1,905 and/or 12 months of imprisonment or on conviction on indictment or imprisonment for life

Removal by Parent

There are special offences of child abduction. A person shall be guilty of an offence, who takes, sends or keeps a child under the age of 16 years out of the State or causes a child under that age to be so taken, sent or kept in defiance of a court order, or) without the consent of each person who is a parent, or guardian or person to whom custody of the child has been granted by a court unless the consent of a court was obtained.

This offence applies to a parent, guardian or a person to whom custody of the child has been granted by a court but does not apply to a parent who is not a guardian of the child. It is a defence to a charge that the defendant has been unable to communicate with the relevant persons having lawful control of the child but believes they would consent if they were aware of the relevant circumstances, or did not intend to deprive others having rights of guardianship or custody in relation to the child of those rights.

A person guilty of this offence is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €1,905 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both or on conviction on indictment to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years or to both.

Any proceedings for this offence shall not be instituted except by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Child Abduction by Others

A person,  other than a parent, Gardal or a person in whose lawful custody a child is placed, shall be guilty of an offence who, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, intentionally takes or detains a child under the age of 16 years or causes a child under that age to be so taken or detained so as to remove the child from the lawful control of any person having lawful control of the child; or so as to keep him or her out of the lawful control of any person entitled to lawful control of the child.

It is a defence to a charge under this section that the defendant believed that the child had attained the age of 16 years.

A person guilty of this offence is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €1,905 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both or on conviction on indictment to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years or to both.