Commentary on Sections Part 1 - Adoption Chapter 6 - Adoptions with a Foreign Element
The provisions in this Chapter incorporate many of the measures of the Adoption (Intercountry Aspects) Act (Northern Ireland) 2001 (“the 2001 Act”) and extend those measures with new safeguards and penalties.
The 2001 Act amended the Adoption (Northern Ireland) Order 1987, making provision to regulate intercountry adoption. The Act (together with equivalent Great Britain legislation) enabled the United Kingdom to ratify the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of Intercountry Adoption and introduced sanctions against those failing to follow the proper procedures for bringing children into the United Kingdom. The 2001 Act also clarifies that Trusts have a duty to provide, or arrange to provide, an intercountry adoption service and provides that children who are the subject of a Convention adoption will receive British nationality automatically.
The 2001 Act will largely be repealed when this Act is implemented, as the majority of the provisions amended the Adoption (Northern Ireland) Order 1987 and have been incorporated into this Act. Section 1 (power to make regulations giving effect to the Convention), section 2 (Central Authorities and accredited bodies) and Schedule 1 (which sets out the text of the Convention so far as material) of the 2001 Act will remain. Section 159(1) defines a Convention adoption order as an adoption order which is made by virtue of regulations under section 1 of the Adoption (Intercountry Aspects) Act (Northern Ireland) 2001. The regulations which are to be made under section 1 of the 2001 Act will apply, with or without modification, to the provisions of this Act, for example, the conditions which must be satisfied before an application for a Convention adoption order may be made. Convention adoptions made in a country outside the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man are recognised, see section 65(1).