Legal Definition and Related Resources of Abduction

The offense of taking away a person such as a child, ward, wife by fraud , persuasion or violence .

noun

• childstealing
• impressment
• kidnapping
• overmastering
• raptus
• ravishment
• shanghaiing
• spiriting away
• subjugation
• taking away

Browse or run a search for Abduction in the American Encyclopedia of Law, the Asian Encyclopedia of Law, the European Encyclopedia of Law, the UK Encyclopedia of Law or the Latin American and Spanish Encyclopedia of Law.

Abduction in Historical Law

You might be interested in the historical meaning of this term. Browse or search for Abduction in Historical Law in the Encyclopedia of Law.

Search for legal acronyms and/or abbreviations containing Abduction in the Legal Abbreviations and Acronyms Dictionary.

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The offense of taking away a wife or child by … (Read more)

What does Abduction mean in American Law?

The definition of Abduction in the law of the United States, as defined by the lexicographer Arthur Leff in his legal dictionary is:

The luring away by fraud or persuasion, or the carrying away by force or threat of force, of one person from another who has some legally cognizable right to the company of, or control over, the abducted. Insofar as abduction constitutes a crime or tort, its ambit is almost wholly confined to the family relationship, e.g., abduction of’wife, ward, or child. It was never necessary that the purpose of the abduction be unlawful for legal sanction to attach. Indeed, the widest historical ambit of the offense seems to have involved the abduction of female children or wards for purpose of lawful marriage. Moreover, the offense being “to the relationship” and not to the person abducted, the latter’s consent constituted no defense; thus even abduction

effected by nonfraudulent persuasion might be unlawful. In modern times this distinction has become less important, as abduction has tended to refer mostly to removal of children under a certain age who cannot, in fact or at least in law, validly consent to the abduction (or, usually, to the intended

purpose, e.g., cohabitation or marriage). Abduction of a spouse (other than by force-see kidnapping) has ceased to be of much practical importance, except in those jurisdictions which still recognize a cause of action in tort for alienation of affections.

Abduction in Law Enforcement

Main Entry: Law Enforcement in the Legal Dictionary. This section provides, in the context of Law Enforcement, a partial definition of abduction.

Resources

See Also

• Law Enforcement Officer
• Police Officer
• Law Enforcement Agency

Further Reading

• abduction in A Dictionary of Law Enforcement (Oxford University Press)
• abduction in the Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement
• A Treatise on the Police of the Metropolis

English Legal System: Abduction

In the context of the English law, A Dictionary of Law provides the following legal concept of Abduction :

The offence of taking an unmarried girl under the age of 16 from the possession of her parents or guardians against their will. It is no defence that the girl looked and acted as if she was over 16 or that she was a willing party. No sexual motive has to be proved. It is also an offence to abduct an unmarried girl under the age of 18 or a mentally defective woman (married or unmarried) for the purpose of unlawful sexual intercourse. In this case a defendant can plead that he had reasonable grounds for believing that the girl was over 18, or that he did not know the woman was mentally defective, respectively. It is also an offence to abduct any woman with the intention that she should marry or have unlawful sexual intercourse with someone, if it is done by force or for the sake of her property. It is also an offence for a parent or guardian of a child under 16 to take or send him out of the UK without the consent of the other parent or guardians. Belief that the other person has or would have consented is a defence. It is also an offence for any other person to remove or keep such a child, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, from the person with lawful control of him. Proof of belief that the child was 16 is a defence here.

See also kidnapping.

Abduction

Meaning of Abduction

In this law dictionary, the legal term abduction is a kind of the Criminal law class.

Resources

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