Explanatory note

This Order brings into force on 30th April 2001, sections 9 and 14 of the Adoption (Intercountry Aspects) Act 1999, in so far as they amend the Adoption Act 1976 (“the 1976 Act”). Section 9 inserts a new subsection into the 1976 Act, which provides that references to adoption in Part 1 of that Act are to the adoption of children, wherever they may be habitually resident, whether effected within or outside the British Islands. Section 14 inserts a new section into the 1976 Act, which profiles that a person habitually resident in the British Islands is guilty of an offence if he brings a child who is habitually resident elsewhere into the United Kingdom for the purposes of adoption, without complying with such requirements as may be prescribed by the Secretary of State.