Regulation 12 Procedure following receipt of the Article 16 Information from the CA of the State of origin

(1)

Where the relevant Central Authority receive from the CA of the State of origin, the Article 16 Information relating to the child whom the CA of the State of origin considers should be placed for adoption with the prospective adopter, the relevant Central Authority must send that Information to the adoption agency.

(2)

The adoption agency must consider the Article 16 Information and—

(a)

send that Information to the prospective adopter;

(b)

meet with him to discuss the Article 16 Information and the proposed placement; and

(c)

if appropriate, offer a counselling service and further information as required.

(3)

Where—

(a)

the procedure in paragraph (2) has been followed;

(b)

the prospective adopter (and where the prospective adopters are a married couple each of them) has visited the child in the State of origin; and

(c)

after that visit to the child, the prospective adopter confirmed in writing that he—

(i)

has visited that child; and

(ii)

wishes to proceed to adopt the child,

the adoption agency must notify the relevant Central Authority that the requirements specified in sub-paragraph (a), (b) and (c) have been satisfied and at the same time it must confirm that it is content that the adoption should proceed.

(4)

Where the relevant Central Authority has received notification from the adoption agency under paragraph (3), the relevant Central Authority shall—

(a)

notify the CA of the State of origin that—

(i)

the prospective adopter wishes to proceed to adopt the child;

(ii)

it is prepared to agree with the CA of the State of origin that the adoption may proceed; and

(b)

confirm to the CA of the State of origin that—

(i)

in the case where the requirements specified in section 1(5A) of the British Nationality Act 1981^f1 are met that, the child will be authorised to enter and reside permanently in the United Kingdom; and

(ii)

in any other case, if entry clearance and leave to enter and remain, as may be necessary, is granted and not revoked or curtailed and a Convention adoption order or a Convention adoption is made, the child will be authorised to enter and reside permanently in the United Kingdom.

(5)

The relevant Central Authority must inform the adoption agency and the prospective adopter when the agreement under Article 17(c)^f2 of the Convention has been made.

(6)

If, at any stage before the agreement under Article 17(c) of the Convention is made, the CA of the State of origin notifies the relevant Central Authority that it has decided the proposed placement should not proceed, the relevant Central Authority must inform the adoption agency of the CA of the State of origin’s decision and the agency must then inform the prospective adopter and return the documents referred to in paragraph (2) to that Authority who must then return them to the CA of the State of origin.

(7)

If, at any stage before the child is placed with him, the prospective adopter notifies the adoption agency that he does not wish to proceed with the adoption of the child, that agency must inform the relevant Central Authority and return the documents to that Authority who must in turn notify the CA of the State of origin of the prospective adopter’s decision and return the documents to the CA of the State of origin.

(8)

Following any agreement under Article 17(c) of the Convention and the placement of the child by the adoption agency with the prospective adopter, the prospective adopter must accompany the child on entering the United Kingdom unless, in the case of a married couple, the agency and the CA of the State of origin have agreed that it is necessary for only one of them to do so.

(9)

For the purposes of this regulation “the Article 16 Information” means—

(a)

the report referred to in Article 16(1) of the Convention including information about the child’s identity, adoptability, background, social environment, family history, medical history including that of the child’s family, and any special needs of the child;

(b)

proof of confirmation that the consents of the persons, institutions and authorities whose consents are necessary for adoption have been obtained in accordance with Article 4 of the Convention; and

(c)

the reasons for the CA of the State of origin’s determination on the placement.

Annotations

Footnotes

f1: 1981 c. 61. Section 1 is amended by section 7 of the 1999 Act.
f2: Article 17 sets out the conditions which must be satisfied before a decision may be made by the State of origin that a child may be placed with prospective adopters. The condition in Article 17(c) is that the Central Authority of the State of origin and the receiving State have agreed that the adoption may proceed.