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custody cases. If visitation rights cannot be enforced quickly, | they often cannot be enforced at all. This is particularly true if | there is a limited time within which visitation can be exercised | such as may be the case when one parent has been granted visitation | during the winter or spring holiday period. Without speedy | consideration and resolution of the enforcement of such visitation | rights, the ability to visit may be lost entirely. Similarly, a | custodial parent must be able to obtain prompt enforcement when the | noncustodial parent refuses to return a child at the end of | authorized visitation, particularly when a summer visitation | extension will infringe on the school year. A swift enforcement | mechanism is desirable for violations of both custody and | visitation provisions. |
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| | The scope of the enforcing court's inquiry is limited to the | issue of whether the decree court had jurisdiction and complied | with due process in rendering the original custody decree. No | further inquiry is necessary because neither Article 2 [Me. cite | subchapter II] nor the PKPA allows an enforcing court to modify a | custody determination. |
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| | Third, the enforcing court will be able to utilize an | extraordinary remedy. If the enforcing court is concerned that | the parent, who has physical custody of the child, will flee or | harm the child, a warrant to take physical possession of the | child is available. |
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| | Finally, there is a role for public authorities, such as | prosecutors, in the enforcement process. Their involvement will | encourage the parties to abide by the terms of the custody | determination. If the parties know that public authorities and | law enforcement officers are available to help in securing | compliance with custody determinations, the parties may be | deterred from interfering with the exercise of rights established | by court order. |
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| | The involvement of public authorities will also prove more | effective in remedying violations of custody determinations. | Most parties do not have the resources to enforce a custody | determination in another jurisdiction. The availability of the | public authorities as an enforcement agency will help ensure that | this remedy can be made available regardless of income level. In | addition, the public authorities may have resources to draw on | that are unavailable to the average litigant. |
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| | This Act does not authorize the public authorities to be | involved in the action leading up to the making of the custody | determination, except when requested by the court, when there is | a violation of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of | International Child Abduction, or when the person holding the |
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