I share Angela Moores' concerns regarding the enforcement powers of the proposed new Child Support Agency (CSA) (see (2006) Gazette, 17 August, 12).



The proposed measures such as curfews and removal of passports lack legitimacy because they look like punishment as opposed to enforcement (and I am not aware that non-payment of child maintenance is currently a criminal offence). At the same time, the current CSA lacks many of the procedural powers generally afforded to litigants in the UK, such as obtaining third-party disclosure orders and freezing injunctions. This can be a problem not only at the enforcement stage but at the assessment stage.



As long as parents who cannot agree on child maintenance are prevented from resorting to the courts, the procedural powers of the new CSA will need to match those of litigants in general in the UK. This is necessary to ensure human rights compliance, in particular with article 6 in conjunction with article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights.



Eva Nickel, London