Citation and commencement

1.  This Order may be cited as the Adoption (Recognition of Overseas Adoptions) Order 2013 and comes into force on 3rd January 2014.

Overseas adoptions

2.-(1) An adoption of a child(2) is specified as an overseas adoption if it is an adoption effected under the law of a country or territory listed in the Schedule after the coming into force of this Order and is not a Convention adoption(3).

(2) In this Article "law" does not include customary or common law.

Evidence of an overseas adoption

3.-(1) The following documents may be provided as evidence that an overseas adoption has been effected-

(a)a certified copy of an entry made, in accordance with the law of the country or territory concerned, in a public register relating to the recording of adoptions and showing that the adoption has been effected; or

(b)a certificate that the adoption has been effected, signed or purporting to be signed by a person authorised by the law of the country or territory concerned to sign such a certificate, or a certified copy of such a certificate.

(2) Where a document produced by virtue of paragraph (1) is not in English, the Registrar General may require the production of an English translation of the document before being satisfied of the matters specified in paragraph 3 of Schedule 1 to the Adoption and Children Act 2002(4).

(3) Nothing in this Article may be construed as precluding proof, in accordance with the Evidence (Foreign, Dominion and Colonial Documents) Act 1933(5), or the Oaths and Evidence (Overseas Authorities and Countries) Act 1963(6), or otherwise, that an overseas adoption has been effected.

Revocations and savings provision

4.-(1) The Adoption (Designation of Overseas Adoptions) Order 1973(7) (‘the 1973 Order') and the Adoption (Designation of Overseas Adoptions) (Variation) Order 1993(8) are revoked.

(2) The revocations do not affect any adoption designated as an overseas adoption by virtue of the 1973 Order prior to the coming into force of this Order.

Article 2(1)

SCHEDULE

• Albania

• Andorra

• Armenia

• Australia

• Austria

• Azerbaijan

• Belarus

• Belgium

• Belize

• Bolivia

• Brazil

• Bulgaria

• Burkina Faso

• Burundi

• Canada

• Cape Verde

• Chile

• The People's Republic of China

• Colombia

• Costa Rica

• Cuba

• The Republic of Cyprus

• Czech Republic

• Denmark (including the Faroe Islands and Greenland)

• Dominican Republic

• Ecuador

• El Salvador

• Estonia

• Fiji

• Finland

• France

• Georgia

• Germany

• Greece

• Guinea

• Hungary

• Iceland

• India

• The Republic of Ireland

• Israel

• Italy

• Kazakhstan

• Kenya

• Latvia

• Lesotho

• Liechtenstein

• Lithuania

• Luxembourg

• The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

• Madagascar

• Mali

• Malta

• Mauritius

• Mexico

• The Republic of Moldova

• Monaco

• Mongolia

• Montenegro

• The Netherlands (including the Caribbean part of the Netherlands (the islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba)

• New Zealand

• Norway

• Panama

• Paraguay

• Peru

• Philippines

• Poland

• Portugal

• Romania

• Rwanda

• San Marino

• Senegal

• Seychelles

• Slovakia

• Slovenia

• South Africa

• Spain

• Sri Lanka

• Swaziland

• Sweden

• Switzerland

• Thailand

• Togo

• Turkey

• The United States of America

• Uruguay

• Venezuela

• Vietnam

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order comes into force on 3rd January 2014. It revokes and replaces the Adoption (Designation of Overseas Adoptions) Order 1973 (‘the 1973 Order') and revokes the Adoption (Designation of Overseas Adoptions) (Variation) Order 1993 (‘the 1993 Order').

Article 2 provides that an adoption, other than a Convention adoption, effected under the law of a country or territory listed in the Schedule to the Order is designated as an ‘overseas adoption' for the purposes of section 87 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (‘the 2002 Act') and therefore recognised as an ‘adoption' under section 66 of the 2002 Act. For the purposes of Article 2 ‘law' does not include customary or common law.

Article 3 provides that the documents that may be produced as evidence that an overseas adoption has been effected are documents purporting to be a certified copy made, in accordance with the law of the country or territory concerned, in the public register of adoptions or a certificate that the adoption has been effected, signed or purporting to be signed by a person authorised by that country or territory to sign such a certificate.

Article 4(1) revokes the 1973 Order and the 1993 Order. The effect of the revocations coupled with this Order is to update the list of countries and territories whose adoption orders are classed as ‘overseas adoptions' in England and Wales. Article 4(2) provides for a savings provision in respect of any adoption that was recognised as an overseas adoption under the 1973 Order before it was revoked. Any adoption that was recognised as an overseas adoption prior to the coming into force of this Order continues to be recognised as such.

A full regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen.