Madalena Diniz de Ayala in report on international parental abduction highlights failures in the enforcement of the law

Madalena Diniz de Ayala, associate at Morais Leitão, in an interview with 24notícias, speaks about the weakness of the legal and operational mechanisms in tackling international parental abduction. “The first step is stricter border control whenever a child leaves the country without both parents,” she states.

She emphasises that, although many parents carry signed travel authorisations from the other parent, “these are rarely requested, particularly within the Schengen Area”, which makes it easy to circumvent court orders in force.

Madalena Diniz de Ayala’s comments are part of a report that gives voice to Portuguese mothers separated from their children and faced with the slowness of the justice system and the lack of coordination between national and foreign authorities. She stresses the urgent need to effectively implement existing legal provisions and strengthen cooperation mechanisms between border agencies, courts and law enforcement to uphold the best interests of the child.

Read the full report here.