Jersey Law 39/1961
“ADOPTION (JERSEY) LAW,
1961”,
CONFIRMÉ PAR
Ordre de Sa Majesté en Conseil
en date du 25 septembre 1961.
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(Enregistré le 21 octobre
1961).
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ARRANGEMENT OF
ARTICLES.
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Article
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1.
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Interpretation
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2.
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Power to make adoption orders
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3.
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Age and sex of applicant
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4.
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Consents
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5.
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Power to dispense with consent
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6.
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Evidence of consent of parent or
guardian
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7.
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Care and
possession of infants before adoption, and notification to Committee
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8.
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Functions of Court as to adoption
orders
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9.
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Interim orders
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10.
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Procedure
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11.
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Modification
of foregoing provisions in the case of applicants not ordinarily resident in
the Island
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12.
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Rights and duties of parents and
capacity to marry
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13.
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Friendly societies, insurance, etc
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14.
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Orders and
agreements for maintenance of illegitimate infants
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15.
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Intestacies, etc
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16.
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Adopted children Register
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17.
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Registrations of adoptions
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18.
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Amendment of orders and
rectification of Registers
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19.
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Recording of change
of name in Public Registry of Contracts
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20.
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Registration of baptism
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21.
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Legitimation :
revocation of adoption orders and cancellation in Registers
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22.
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Legitimation :
marking of entries on re-registration of births
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23.
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Meaning of protected child
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24.
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Duty of
Committee to secure well-being of protected children
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25.
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Power to inspect premises
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26.
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Notices and
information to be given to Committee
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27.
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Removal of
protected children from unsuitable surroundings
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28.
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Offences in relation to protected
children.
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29.
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Provisions as to existing de facto
adoptions
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30.
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Prohibition of certain payments
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31.
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Restriction on
removal of infants for adoption outside British Islands
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32.
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Provisional adoption by persons
domiciled outside Jersey
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33.
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Service of notices, etc
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34.
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Amendment and adaptation of
enactments
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35.
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Repeal and transitional provisions
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36.
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Short title and commencement
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First Schedule (Article 17)
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Second Schedule (Article 35) (Transitional
provisions)
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ADOPTION (JERSEY) LAW, 1961.
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A LAW to
revise the Law relating to the adoption of children, sanctioned by Order of Her
Majesty in Council of the
25th day of SEPTEMBER, 1961.
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(Registered on the 21st day of
October, 1961).
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STATES OF JERSEY.
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The 23rd day of
March, 1961.
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THE STATES, subject to the sanction of
Her Most Excellent Majesty in Council, have adopted the following Law : -
ARTICLE 1
INTERPRETATION
(1) In
this Law, unless the context otherwise requires –
“adoption order” has the meaning assigned to it by
Article 2 of this Law;
“adoption rules” has the meaning assigned to it by
paragraph (2) of Article 10 of this Law;
“the Committee” means the Education Committee;
“the Court” means the Inferior Number of the Royal Court;
“father”, in relation to an illegitimate infant, means
the natural father;
“infant” means a person under twenty years of age, but
does not include a person who is or has been married;
“prescribed” means prescribed by Adoption Rules;
“registered medical practitioner” means a physician or
surgeon registered under the enactments for the time being regulating the
exercise in the Island of the profession of
medical practitioner;
“relative”, in relation to an infant, means a
grand-parent, brother, sister, uncle or aunt, whether of the full blood or half
blood or by affinity, and includes –
(a) where an adoption order
has been made in respect of the infant or any other person by a court of
competent jurisdiction in the British Islands any person who would be a
relative of the infant within the meaning of this definition if the adopted
person were the child of the adopter born in lawful wedlock ;
(b) where the infant is
illegitimate, the father of the infant and any person who would be a relative
of the infant within the meaning of this definition if the infant were the
legitimate child of his mother and father.
(2) For
the purposes of this Law, the upper limit of the compulsory school age means
the age which is for the time being that limit by virtue of Article 20 of the
“Loi (1912) sur l’Instruction Primaire”.
(3) For
the purposes of this Law, a person shall be deemed to make arrangements for the
adoption of an infant if he enters into or makes any agreement or arrangement
for, or for facilitating, the adoption of the infant by any other person,
whether the adoption is effected, or is intended to be effected, in pursuance
of an adoption order or otherwise, or if he initiates or takes part in any
negotiations of which the purpose or effect is the conclusion of any agreement
or the making of any arrangement therefor, or if he causes another to do so.
(4) This
Law applies to citizens of the Republic
of Ireland as it applies
to British subjects, and references in this Law to British subjects shall be
construed accordingly.
(5) Any
reference in this Law to any other enactment shall be construed as a reference
to that enactment as amended by any subsequent enactment.
Making of adoption orders
ARTICLE 2
POWER TO MAKE ADOPTION ORDERS
(1) Subject
to the provisions of this Law, the Court may, upon an application made in the
prescribed manner by a person domiciled in the Island,
make an order (in this Law referred to as an “adoption order”)
authorizing the applicant to adopt an infant.
(2) An
adoption order may be made on the application of two spouses authorizing them
jointly to adopt an infant ; but an adoption order shall not in any other case
be made authorizing more than one person to adopt an infant.
(3) An
adoption order may be made authorizing the adoption of an infant by the mother
or father of the infant, either alone or jointly with her or his spouse.
(4) An
adoption order may be made in respect of an infant who has already been the
subject of an adoption order made by a court of competent jurisdiction in the
British Islands ; and in relation to an application for an adoption order in
respect of such an infant, the adopter or adopters under the previous or last
previous adoption order shall be deemed to be the parent or parents of the
infant for all the purposes of this Law.
(5) An
adoption order shall not be made unless the applicant and the infant reside in
the Island, subject however to Article 11 of
this Law.
ARTICLE 3
AGE AND SEX OF APPLICANT
(1) Subject
to paragraph (2) of this Article, an adoption order shall not be made in
respect of an infant unless the applicant –
(a) is the mother or father
of the infant ; or
(b) is a relative of the
infant, and has attained the age of twenty years ; or
(c) has attained the age of
twenty-five years.
(2) An
adoption order may be made in respect of an infant on the joint application of
two spouses –
(a) if either of the
applicants is the mother or father of the infant ; or
(b) if the condition set
out in sub-paragraph (b) or
sub-paragraph (c) of paragraph (1) of
this Article is satisfied in the case of one of the applicants, and the other
of them has attained the age of twenty years.
(3) An
adoption order shall not be made in respect of a female infant in favour of a
sole applicant who is a male, unless the Court is satisfied that there are
special circumstances which justify as an exceptional measure the making of an
adoption order.
ARTICLE 4
CONSENTS
(1) Subject
to Article 5 of this Law, an adoption order shall not be made –
(a) in any case, except
with the consent of every person who is a parent or guardian of the infant ;
(b) on the application of
one of two spouses, except with the consent of the other spouse.
(2) The
consent of any person to the making of an adoption order in pursuance of an
application may be given (either unconditionally or subject to conditions with
respect to the religious persuasion in which the infant is proposed to be
brought up) without knowing the identity of the applicant for the order.
ARTICLE 5
POWER TO DISPENSE WITH CONSENT
(1) The
Court may dispense with any consent required by sub-paragraph (a) of paragraph (1) of Article 4 of this
Law if it is satisfied that the person whose consent is to be dispensed with
–
(a) has abandoned,
neglected or persistently ill-treated the infant ; or
(b) cannot be found or is
incapable of giving his consent or is withholding his consent unreasonably.
(2) If
the Court is satisfied that any person whose consent is required by the said
sub-paragraph (a) has persistently
failed without reasonable cause to discharge the obligations of a parent or
guardian of the infant, the Court may dispense with his consent whether or not
it is satisfied of the matters mentioned in paragraph (1) of this Article.
(3) Where
a person, having given his consent to the making of an adoption order without
knowing the identity of the applicant therefor, subsequently withdraws his
consent on the ground only that he does not know the identity of the applicant,
his consent shall be deemed for the purposes of this Article to be unreasonably
withheld.
(4) The
Court may dispense with the consent of the spouse of an applicant for an
adoption order if it is satisfied that the person whose consent is to be
dispensed with cannot be found or is incapable of giving his consent or that
the spouses have separated and are living apart and that the separation is
likely to be permanent.
ARTICLE 6
EVIDENCE OF CONSENT OF PARENT OR GUARDIAN
(1) Where
a parent or guardian of an infant does not attend in the proceedings on an
application for an adoption order for the purpose of giving his consent to the
making of the order, a document signifying his consent to the making of such an
order shall –
(a) if the person in whose
favour the order is to be made is named in the document or (where the identity
of that person is not known to the consenting party) is distinguished therein
in the prescribed manner ; and
(b) if the document is
attested by a person of any such class as may be prescribed ;
be admissible as evidence of that consent and of the signature of
the document by the person by whom it is executed :
Provided that a document signifying the consent of the mother of an
infant shall not be admissible under this Article unless the infant is at least
six weeks old on the date of the execution of the document.
(2) For
the purposes of this Article, a document purporting to be attested in manner
provided by paragraph (1) of this Article shall be deemed to be so attested,
and to be executed and attested on the date and at the place specified in the
document, unless the contrary is proved.
ARTICLE 7
CARE AND POSSESSION OF INFANTS BEFORE ADOPTION, AND NOTIFICATION TO
COMMITTEE
(1) An
adoption order shall not be made in respect of any infant unless he has been
continuously in the care and possession of the applicant for at least three
consecutive months immediately preceding the date of the order, not counting
any time before the date which appears to the Court to be the date on which the
infant attained the age of six weeks.
(2) Except
where the applicant or one of the applicants is a parent of the infant, an
adoption order shall not be made in respect of an infant who at the hearing of
the application is below the upper limit of the compulsory school age unless
the applicant has, at least three months before the date of the order, given
notice in writing to the Committee of his intention to apply for an adoption
order in respect of the infant.
(3) Where
an application for an adoption order in respect of an infant is pending, a
parent or guardian of the infant who has signified his consent to the making of
an adoption order in pursuance of the application shall not be entitled, except
with the leave of the Court, to remove the infant from the care and possession
of the applicant, and in considering whether to grant or refuse such leave the
Court shall have regard to the welfare of the infant.
ARTICLE 8
FUNCTIONS OF COURT AS TO ADOPTION ORDERS
(1) The
Court before making an adoption order shall be satisfied –
(a) that every person whose
consent is necessary under this Law, and whose consent is not dispensed with,
has consented to and understands the nature and effect of the adoption order
for which application is made, and in particular in the case of any parent
understands that the effect of the adoption order will be permanently to
deprive him or her of his or her parental rights ;
(b) that the order if made
will be for the welfare of the infant ; and
(c) that the applicant has
not received or agreed to receive, and that no person has made or given or
agreed to make or give to the applicant, any payment or other reward in
consideration of the adoption except such as the Court may sanction.
(2) In
determining whether an adoption order if made will be for the welfare of the
infant, the Court shall have regard (among other things) to the health of the
applicant, as evidenced, in such cases as may be prescribed, by the certificate
of a registered medical practitioner, and shall give due consideration to the
wishes of the infant, having regard to his age and understanding.
(3) The
Court in an adoption order may impose such terms and conditions as the Court
may think fit, and in particular may require the adopter by bond or otherwise
to make for the infant such provision (if any) as in the opinion of the Court
is just and expedient.
ARTICLE 9
INTERIM ORDERS
(1) Subject
to the provisions of this Article, the Court may, upon any application for an
adoption order, postpone the determination of the application and make an
interim order giving the custody of the infant to the applicant for a period
not exceeding two years by way of a probationary period upon such terms as
regards provision for the maintenance and education and supervision of the
welfare of the infant and otherwise as the Court may think fit.
(2) All
such consents as are required to an adoption order shall be necessary to an
interim order but subject to a like power on the part of the Court to dispense
with any such consent.
(3) An
interim order shall not be made in any case where the making of an adoption
order would be unlawful by virtue of Article 7 of this Law.
(4) Where
an interim order has been made giving the custody of an infant to the applicant
for a period of less than two years, the Court may by order extend that period,
but the total period for which the custody of the infant is given to the
applicant under the order as varied under this paragraph shall not exceed two
years.
(5) An
interim order shall not be deemed to be an adoption order within the meaning of
this Law.
ARTICLE 10
PROCEDURE
(1) In
this Law “Adoption Rules” means rules made under paragraph (2) of
this Article.
(2) Rules
in regard to any matter to be prescribed under this Law and dealing generally
with all matters of procedure and incidental matters arising out of this Law
and for carrying this Law into effect shall be made by the Superior Number of
the Royal Court.
(3) Adoption
Rules may provide for applications for adoption orders to be heard and
determined otherwise than in open court.
(4) Paragraph
(1) of Article 3 of the Official Publications (Jersey) Law, 1960, shall apply to Adoption Rules as it applies to
enactments mentioned in that paragraph and, accordingly, as soon as may be
after any such rules are made, the Judicial Greffier shall transmit a certified
copy thereof to the Greffier of the States.
(5) In
all proceedings, whether oral or written, under this Law, any member of the
Court and any party or person engaged or concerned in such proceedings or
giving evidence therein may use the English language.
(6) For
the purposes of any application for an adoption order, the Court shall, subject
to Adoption Rules, appoint some person or body to act as guardian ad litem of the infant upon the hearing
of the application with the duty of safeguarding the interests of the infant
before the Court.
ARTICLE 11
MODIFICATION OF FOREGOING PROVISIONS IN THE CASE OF APPLICANTS NOT
ORDINARILY RESIDENT IN THE ISLAND
(1) An
adoption order may, notwithstanding anything in this Law, be made on the
application of a person who is not ordinarily resident in the Island and, in
relation to such an application, paragraph (5) of Article 2 of this Law shall
not apply.
(2) Where
an application for an adoption order is made jointly by spouses who are not, or
one of whom is not, ordinarily resident in the Island, the notice required by
paragraph (2) of Article 7 of this Law may be given by either of the applicants
; and the provisions of paragraph (1) of that Article shall be deemed to be
complied with if they are complied with in the case of one of the applicants
and the applicants have been living together in the Island for at least one of
the three months mentioned in that paragraph.
(3) This
Article shall not affect the construction of paragraph (1) of the said Article
7 in its application to any joint application to which paragraph (2) of this
Article does not apply.
Effects of adoption orders
ARTICLE 12
RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF PARENTS AND CAPACITY TO MARRY
(1) Upon
an adoption order being made, all rights, duties, obligations and liabilities
of the parents, and, subject to the provisions of paragraph (3) of this
Article, of the guardian, if any, of the infant in relation to the future
custody, maintenance and education of the infant, including all rights to
consent or give notice of dissent to marriage, shall be extinguished, and all
such rights, duties, obligations and liabilities shall vest in and be
exercisable by and enforceable against the adopter as if the infant were a
child born to the adopter in lawful wedlock ; and in respect of the matters
aforesaid and in respect of the liability of a child to maintain his parents
the infant shall stand to the adopter exclusively in the position of a child
born to the adopter in lawful wedlock.
(2) In
any case where two spouses are the adopters, the spouses shall in respect of
the matters aforesaid, and for the purpose of the jurisdiction of any court to
make orders as to the custody and maintenance of and right of access to
children, stand to each other and to the infant in the same relation as they
would have stood if they had been the lawful father and mother of the infant
and the infant shall stand to them in the same relation as to a lawful father
and mother.
(3) Where
it becomes necessary to appoint a guardian for an adopted child, the adopter or
adopters and the relatives of the adopter or adopters shall, in all matters
appertaining to the formation of the guardianship, be deemed to be the
relatives of the adopted child, and, where an adoption order is made in respect
of an infant who is under guardianship, the Court shall order that the
guardianship be reconstituted unless it is of the opinion that it is in the
interests of the child that the guardianship be maintained.
(4) For
the purposes of the law relating to marriage, an adopter and the person whom he
has been authorized to adopt under an adoption order shall be deemed to be
within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity ; and the provisions of this
paragraph shall continue to have effect notwithstanding that some person other
than the adopter is authorized by a subsequent order to adopt the same infant.
ARTICLE 13
FRIENDLY SOCIETIES, INSURANCE, ETC
(1) For
the purposes of the enactments for the time being in force relating to friendly
societies, collecting societies or industrial insurance companies, an adopter
shall be deemed to be the parent of the infant whom he is authorized to adopt
under an adoption order.
(2) Where,
before the making of an adoption order in respect of an infant, the natural
parent of the infant has effected an insurance with any such society or company
for the payment, on the death of the infant, of money for funeral expenses, the
rights and liabilities under the policy shall by virtue of the adoption order
be transferred to the adopter and the adopter shall, for the purposes of the
said enactments, be treated as the person who took out the policy.
ARTICLE 14
ORDERS AND AGREEMENTS FOR MAINTENANCE OF ILLEGITIMATE INFANTS
(1) Where
an adoption order is made in respect of an infant who is illegitimate, then,
unless the adopter is his mother and the mother is a single woman, any order or
agreement whereby the father of the infant is required or has undertaken to
make payments specifically for the benefit of the infant, shall cease to have
effect, but without prejudice to the recovery of any arrears which are due
under the order or agreement at the date of the adoption order.
(2) After
an adoption order has been made in respect of an infant who is illegitimate, no
order requiring the father of the infant to make payments specifically for the
benefit of the infant shall be made unless the adoption order was made on the
application of the mother of the infant alone.
ARTICLE 15
INTESTACIES, ETC
(1) An
adoption order shall not deprive the adopted child of any right to or interest
in property to which, but for the order, the child would have been entitled
under any intestacy or disposition, whether occurring or made before or after
the making of the adoption order, or on the death of any person from whom the
child is descended, whether such death occurred before or after the making of
the adoption order, or confer on the adopted child any right to or interest in
property as a child of the adopter, and the expressions “child”,
“children” and “issue”, and any expression having a like
meaning, where used in any disposition whether made before or after the making
of an adoption order, shall not, unless the contrary intention appears, include
an adopted child or children or the issue of an adopted child.
(2) For
the purposes of this Article “disposition” means an assurance of
any interest in property by any instrument whether inter vivos or by will including codicil.
Registration
ARTICLE 16
ADOPTED CHILDREN REGISTER
(1) The
Superintendent-Registrar shall maintain a register, to be called the Adopted
Children Register, in which shall be made such entries as may be directed to be
made therein by adoption orders, but no other entries.
(2) A
certified copy of an entry in the Adopted Children Register, if purporting to
be signed by the Superintendent-Registrar shall, without any further or other
proof of that entry, be received as evidence of the adoption to which it
relates and, where the entry contains a record of the date of the birth or the
country or the parish of the birth of the adopted person, shall also be
received as aforesaid as evidence of that date or country or parish in all
respects as if the copy were a certified copy of an entry in the Registers of
Births.
(3) The
Superintendent-Registrar shall cause an index of the Adopted Children Register
to be made and kept in his office and every person shall be entitled to search
that index and to have a certified copy of any entry in the Adopted Children
Register in all respects upon and subject to the same terms and conditions as
to payment of fees and otherwise as are applicable under the “Loi (1842)
sur l’Etat Civil”, in
respect of searches in other indexes kept in the office of the
Superintendent-Registrar and in respect of the supply by the
Superintendent-Registrar of certified copies of entries in the Registers of
Births, Deaths and Marriages.
(4) The
Superintendent-Registrar shall, in addition to the Adopted Children Register
and the index thereof, keep such other registers and books, and make such
entries therein, as may be necessary to record and make traceable the connexion
between any entry in the Registers of Births which has been marked
“Adopted” pursuant to Article 17 of this Law or any enactment at
the time in force, and any corresponding entry in the Adopted Children
Register.
(5) The
registers and books kept under paragraph (4) of this Article shall not be, nor
shall any index thereof be, open to public inspection or search and, except
under an order of the Royal Court,
the Superintendent-Registrar shall not furnish any person with any information
contained in or with any copy or extract from any such registers or books.
ARTICLE 17
REGISTRATION OF ADOPTIONS
(1) Every
adoption order shall contain a direction to the Superintendent-Registrar to
make in the Adopted Children Register an entry in the form set out in the First
Schedule to this Law, and (subject to paragraph (2) of this Article) shall
specify the particulars to be entered under the headings in columns 2 to 6 of
that Schedule.
(2) For
the purpose of compliance with the requirements of paragraph (1) of this
Article –
(a) where the precise date
of the infant’s birth is not proved to the satisfaction of the Court, the
Court shall determine the probable date of his birth and the date so determined
shall be specified in the order as the date of his birth ;
(b) where the country of
birth of the infant is not proved to the satisfaction of the Court, then, if it
appears probable that the infant was born within the United Kingdom, the
Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, he shall be treated as having been born in
Jersey, and in any other case the particulars of the country of birth may be
omitted from the order and from the entry in the Adopted Children Register ;
and the names to be specified in the order as the name and surname
of the infant shall be the name or names and surname stated in that behalf in
the application for the adoption order, or, if no name or surname is so stated,
the original name or names of the infant and the surname of the applicant.
(3) The
particulars to be entered in the Adopted Children Register under the heading in
column 2 of the First Schedule to this Law shall include, in the case of an
infant born in Jersey, the parish in which the birth took place ; and where the
infant was born in Jersey but the parish in which the birth took place is not
proved to the satisfaction of the Court, or where the infant is treated by
virtue of sub-paragraph (b) of
paragraph (2) of this Article as born in Jersey, he shall be treated for the
purposes of this paragraph as born in the parish of Saint Helier.
(4) Where
upon any application for an adoption order in respect of an infant (not being
an infant who has previously been the subject of an adoption order under this
Law or the Adoption of Children (Jersey) Law, 1947), there is
proved to the satisfaction of the Court the identity of the infant with a child
to whom an entry in the Registers of Births relates, any adoption order made in
pursuance of the application shall contain a direction to the
Superintendent-Registrar to cause the entry in the Registers of Births to be
marked with the word “Adopted”.
(5) Where
an adoption order is made in respect of an infant who has previously been the
subject of an adoption order made under this Law or any enactment at the time
in force, the order shall contain a direction to the Superintendent-Registrar
to cause the previous entry in the Adopted Children Register to be marked with
the word “Re-adopted”.
(6) The
Judicial Greffier shall cause every adoption order to be communicated to the
Superintendent-Registrar, and upon receipt of the communication the
Superintendent-Registrar shall cause compliance to be made with the directions
contained in the order.
ARTICLE 18
AMENDMENT OF ORDERS AND RECTIFICATION OF REGISTERS
(1) The
Court may, on the application of the adopter or of the adopted person, amend an
adoption order by the correction of any error in the particulars contained
therein, and may –
(a) if satisfied on the
application of the adopter or of the adopted person that within one year
beginning with the date of the order any new name has been given to the adopted
person (whether in baptism or otherwise), or taken by him, either in lieu of or
in addition to a name specified in the particulars required to be entered in
the Adopted Children Register in pursuance of the order, amend the order by
substituting or adding that name in those particulars, as the case may require
;
(b) if satisfied on the
application of any person concerned that a direction for the marking of an
entry in the Registers of Births or the Adopted Children Register included in
the order in pursuance of paragraph (4) or paragraph (5) of Article 17 of this
Law was wrongly so included, revoke that direction.
(2) Where
an adoption order is amended or a direction revoked under paragraph (1) of this
Article, the Judicial Greffier shall cause the amendment to be communicated to
the Superintendent-Registrar, who shall –
(a) cause the entry in the
Adopted Children Register to be amended accordingly ; or
(b) cause the marking of
the entry in the Registers of Births or the Adopted Children Register to be
cancelled.
(3) Where
an adoption order has been amended, any certified copy of the relevant entry in
the Adopted Children Register which may be issued pursuant to paragraph (3) of
Article 16 of this Law shall be a copy of the entry as amended, without the
reproduction of any note or marking relating to the amendment or of any matter
cancelled pursuant thereto ; and a copy or extract of an entry in any register,
being an entry the marking of which has been cancelled, shall be deemed to be
an accurate copy if and only if both the marking and the cancellation are
omitted therefrom.
ARTICLE 19
RECORDING OF CHANGE OF NAME IN PUBLIC REGISTRY OF CONTRACTS
Where, by virtue of Article 17 or 18 of this Law, the name of an
adopted child is changed, then, if the name of the child is recorded in the
books of the Public Registry of Contracts, the Judicial Greffier shall record
the change of name in those books in such manner as the Court may direct.
ARTICLE 20
REGISTRATION OF BAPTISM
Where a child in respect of whom an adoption order has been made is
baptised, the entry to be made in the Register of Baptisms shall describe the
child as the adopted son or daughter of the person or persons by whom he or she
was adopted, instead of as the son or daughter of the natural parents.
Legitimation following adoption
ARTICLE 21
LEGITIMATION : REVOCATION OF ADOPTION ORDERS AND CANCELLATIONS IN
REGISTERS
(1) Where
any person adopted by his father or mother alone has subsequently become a
legitimated person on the marriage of his father and mother, the Court may, on
the application of any of the parties concerned, revoke the relevant adoption
order.
(2) Where
an adoption order is revoked under this Article, the Judicial Greffier shall
communicate the revocation to the Superintendent-Registrar who shall cancel
–
(a) the entry in the
Adopted Children Register relating to the adopted person ; and
(b) the marking with the
word “Adopted” of any entry relating to him in the Registers of
Births ;
and a copy or extract of an entry in any register, being an entry
the marking of which is cancelled under this Article, shall be deemed to be an
accurate copy if and only if both the marking and the cancellation are omitted
therefrom.
ARTICLE 22
LEGITIMATION : MARKING OF ENTRIES ON RE-REGISTRATION OF BIRTHS
Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 21 of this Law,
where after an entry in the Registers of Births has been marked with the word
“Adopted”, the birth is re-registered under Article 17B of the
“Loi (1842) sur l’Etat Civil”, the entry
made on the re-registration shall be marked in the like manner.
Supervision of children awaiting adoption
ARTICLE 23
MEANING OF PROTECTED CHILD
(1) Subject
to the following provisions of this Article, where notice of intention to apply
for an adoption order in respect of a child is given under paragraph (2) of
Article 7 of this Law, then, while the child is in the care and possession of
the person giving the notice, he is a protected child for the purposes of
Articles 24 to 28 of this Law.
(2) A
child is not a protected child by reason of any such notice as is mentioned in
paragraph (1) of this Article while he is in an approved school or in the care
and possession of any person in any such institution as is mentioned in Article
13 of the “Loi (1935) appliquant à cette Ile certaines des
dispositions de l’Acte de Parlement intitulé ‘Children and
Young Persons Act, 1933’ ”.
(3) A
protected child ceases to be a protected child on the making of an adoption
order in respect of him or on his attaining the age of eighteen years,
whichever first occurs.
(4) A
child in the care and possession of two spouses one of whom is a relative or
guardian of his shall be deemed for the purposes of Article 26 of this Law to
be in the care and possession of that one of them.
ARTICLE 24
DUTY OF COMMITTEE TO SECURE WELL-BEING OF PROTECTED CHILDREN
It shall be the duty of the Committee to secure that protected
children are visited from time to time by officers of the Committee, who shall
satisfy themselves as to the well-being of the children and give such advice as
to their care and maintenance as may appear to be needed.
ARTICLE 25
POWER TO INSPECT PREMISES
Any officer of the Committee generally or specially authorized in
writing in that behalf shall be entitled, subject to the production by him if
so required of evidence of his authority, to enter and inspect any premises in
which protected children are to be or are being kept.
ARTICLE 26
NOTICES AND INFORMATION TO BE GIVEN TO THE COMMITTEE
(1) Where
a person who has a protected child in his care and possession changes his
permanent address, he shall, not less than two weeks before the change, or, if
the change is made in an emergency, not later than one week after the change,
give to the Committee notice in writing specifying the new address.
(2) If
a protected child dies, the person in whose care and possession he was at his
death shall within forty-eight hours of the death give to the Committee notice
in writing of the death.
(3) A
person who has or proposes to have a protected child in his care and possession
shall at the request of the Committee give to the Committee the following
particulars, so far as known to him, that is to say, the name, sex and date and
place of birth of the child, and the name and address of every person who is a
parent or guardian or acts as a guardian of the child or from whom the child
has been or is to be received.
ARTICLE 27
REMOVAL OF PROTECTED CHILDREN FROM UNSUITABLE SURROUNDINGS
(1) If
the Court is satisfied, on a representation made by the Committee, that a
protected child is being kept or is about to be received by any person who is
unfit to have his care, or in any premises or any environment detrimental or
likely to be detrimental to him, the Court may make an order for his removal to
such place as the Court may direct until he can be restored to a parent,
relative or guardian of his, or until other arrangements can be made with
respect to him :
Provided that, on proof that there is imminent danger to the health
or well-being of the child, the power to make an order under this Article may
be exercised by the Bailiff on an application made by the President of the
Committee.
(2) Where
a child is removed under this Article, the Committee shall, if practicable,
inform a parent or guardian of the child, or any person who acts as his
guardian.
ARTICLE 28
OFFENCES IN RELATION TO PROTECTED CHILDREN
(1) A
person shall be guilty of an offence if –
(a) being required, under
any provision of Article 26 of this Law, to give any notice or information, he
fails to give the notice within the time specified in that provision or fails
to give the information within a reasonable time, or knowingly makes or causes
or procures another person to make any false or misleading statement in the
notice or information ;
(b) he refuses to allow the
visiting of a protected child by a duly authorized officer of the Committee or
the inspection, under the power conferred by Article 25 of this Law, of any
premises ;
(c) he refuses to comply
with an order under Article 27 of this Law for the removal of any child or
obstructs any person in the execution of such an order.
(2) A
person guilty of an offence under this Article shall be liable to imprisonment
for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding one hundred
pounds or to both such imprisonment and such fine.
Miscellaneous and General
ARTICLE 29
PROVISIONS AS TO EXISTING DE FACTO ADOPTIONS
Where, on the first day of January, 1948, any infant was in the
custody of, and being brought up, maintained and educated by any person or two
spouses jointly as his, her or their own child under any de facto adoption, and
had for a period of not less than two years before that date been in such
custody, and been so brought up, maintained and educated, the Court may, upon
the application of such person or spouses, and notwithstanding that the
applicant is a male and the infant a female, make an adoption order authorizing
him, her or them to adopt the infant without requiring the consent of any
parent or guardian of the infant to be obtained, upon being satisfied that in
all the circumstances of the case it is just and equitable and for the welfare
of the infant that no such consent should be required and that an adoption
order should be made.
ARTICLE 30
PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN PAYMENTS
(1) Subject
to the provisions of this Article, it shall not be lawful to make or give to
any person any payment or reward for or in consideration of –
(a) the adoption by that
person of an infant ;
(b) the grant by that person
of any consent required in connexion with the adoption of an infant ;
(c) the transfer by that
person of the care and possession of an infant with a view to the adoption of
the infant ; or
(d) the making by that
person of any arrangements for the adoption of an infant.
(2) Any
person who makes or gives, or agrees or offers to make or give any payment or
reward prohibited by this Article, or who receives or agrees to receive or
attempts to obtain any such payment or reward, shall be liable to imprisonment for
a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds
or to both such imprisonment and such fine ; and the Court may order any infant
in respect of whom the offence was committed to be removed to such place as the
Court may direct until he can be restored to his parents or guardian or until
other arrangements can be made for him.
(3) This
Article does not apply to any payment made to an administration of the States
or a parochial authority by a parent or guardian of an infant or by a person
who adopts or proposes to adopt an infant, being a payment in respect of
expenses reasonably incurred by the administration of the States or parochial
authority in connexion with the adoption of the infant, or to any payment or
reward authorized by the Court to which an application for an adoption order in
respect of an infant is made.
ARTICLE 31
RESTRICTION ON REMOVAL OF INFANTS FOR
ADOPTION OUTSIDE
BRITISH ISLANDS
(1) Except
under the authority of an order under Article 32 of this Law, it shall not be
lawful for any person to take or send an infant who is a British subject out of
the Island to any place outside the British Islands with a view to the adoption
of the infant (whether in law or in fact) by any person not being a parent or
guardian or relative of the infant ; and any person who takes or sends an
infant out of the Island to any place in contravention of this paragraph, or
makes or takes part in any arrangements for transferring the care and
possession of an infant to any person for that purpose, shall be liable to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding one
hundred pounds or to both such imprisonment and such fine.
(2) In
any proceedings under this Article, a report by a British consular officer or a
deposition made before a British consular officer and authenticated under the
signature of that officer shall, upon proof that the officer or the deponent
cannot be found in the Island, be admissible as evidence of the matters stated
therein, and it shall not be necessary to prove the signature or official
character of the person who appears to have signed any such report or
deposition.
ARTICLE 32
PROVISIONAL ADOPTION BY PERSONS DOMICILED OUTSIDE JERSEY
(1) If
the Court is satisfied, upon an application being made by a person who is not
domiciled in the Island, that the applicant intends to adopt an infant under
the law of or within the country in which he is domiciled, and for that purpose
desires to remove the infant from the Island either immediately or after an
interval, the Court may, subject to the provisions of this Article, make an
order (in this Article referred to as a “provisional adoption
order”) authorizing the applicant to remove the infant for the purpose
aforesaid, and giving to the applicant the custody of the infant pending his
adoption as aforesaid.
(2) A
provisional adoption order may be made in any case where, apart from the
domicile of the applicant, an adoption order could be made in respect of the
infant under this Law, but shall not be made in any other case.
(3) Subject
to the provisions of this Article, the provisions of this Law, other than this
Article and Article 15, shall apply in relation to a provisional adoption order
as they apply in relation to an adoption order, and references in those
provisions to adoption, to an adoption order, to an application or applicant
for such an order and to an adopter or a person adopted or authorized to be
adopted under such an order shall be construed accordingly.
(4) In
relation to a provisional adoption order, paragraphs (1) and (2) of Article 7
of this Law shall have effect as if for the word “three”, where it
occurs in those paragraphs, there were substituted the word “six”.
(5) Any
entry in the Registers of Births or the Adopted Children Register which is
required to be marked in consequence of the making of a provisional adoption
order shall, in lieu of being marked with the word “Adopted” or
“Re-adopted” be marked with the words “Provisionally adopted”
or “Provisionally re-adopted” as the case may require.
ARTICLE 33
SERVICE OF NOTICES, ETC
Any notice or information required to be given under this Law may
be given by post.
ARTICLE 34
AMENDMENT AND ADAPTATION OF ENACTMENTS
(1) Any
reference in any enactment to an adopted child within the meaning of the
Adoption of Children (Jersey) Law, 1947, or to an
adopter within the meaning of that Law, shall be construed as including a
reference to an infant adopted under this Law, or to the person by whom an
infant has been so adopted, as the case may be.
(2) Any
reference in any enactment to an adoption order made under the Adoption of
Children (Jersey) Law, 1947, shall be
construed as including a reference to an adoption order made under this Law.
ARTICLE 35
REPEAL AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS
(1) The
Adoption of Children (Jersey) Law, 1947,7 the Adoption
of Children (Amendment) (Jersey) Law, 1957, and the Adoption of Children (Amendment No. 2) (Jersey) Law, 1959, are
hereby repealed.
(2) This
Law shall have effect subject to the transitional provisions set out in the
Second Schedule to this Law.
(3) The
mention of particular matters in the Second Schedule to this Law shall be
without prejudice to the general application of Article 19 of the
Interpretation (Jersey) Law, 1954 (which relates to the effect of repeals).
ARTICLE 36
SHORT TITLE AND COMMENCEMENT
(1) This
Law may be cited as the Adoption (Jersey) Law,
1961.
(2) This
Law shall come into force on such day as the States may by Act appoint.