Adoption Act , 1952

PART I. Preliminary and General.

1 Short title.

1.—This Act may be cited as the Adoption Act, 1952.

2 Commencement.

2.—This Act shall come into operation on such day as the Minister may by order appoint.

3 Definitions.

3.—In this Act—

“adoption order” means an order under section 9;

“the Board” means the body established by section 8;

“child” means (save where the context otherwise requires) any person under twenty-one years of age;

“guardian”, in relation to a child, means a person appointed, according to law, to be guardian of his person by deed or will or by order of a court of competent jurisdiction;

“interim order” means an order under section 17;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Justice;

“orphan” means a child whose parents are dead;

“parent” does not include the natural father of an illegitimate child;

“prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under section 5;

“registered adoption society” means a body of persons entered in the Adoption Societies Register;

“relative” means grandparent, brother, sister, uncle or aunt, whether of the whole blood, of the half-blood or by affinity, relationship to an illegitimate child being traced through the mother only.

4 Making of arrangements for adoption.

4.—In this Act references to the making of arrangements for the adoption of a child shall be construed as including references to—

(a) the making of any agreement or arrangement for, or facilitating, the adoption or maintenance of the child by any person, and

(b) the initiation of or taking part in any negotiations of which the purpose or effect is the making of any such agreement or arrangement, and

(c) the causing of another to initiate or take part in any such negotiations.

5 Rules.

5.—The Board, with the consent of the Minister, may make rules for the regulation of its procedure or for any matter referred to in this Act as prescribed.

6 Offences by bodies corporate.

6.—Where an offence under this Act is committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been facilitated by any neglect on the part of any person, being a director, manager, secretary or other officer of the body corporate, that person shall also be guilty of the offence and may be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

7 Expenses.

7.—The expenses incurred by a Minister of State or the Board in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

PART II. Adoption Orders.

8 An Bord Uchtála.

8.—(1) There shall be a body to be known as An Bord Uchtála (in this Act referred to as the Board) to fulfil the functions assigned to it by this Act.

(2) The Board shall consist of a Chairman and six ordinary members.

(3) The Chairman and the ordinary members shall be appointed by the Government.

(4) A person shall not be appointed Chairman unless he is or has been a Judge of the Supreme Court, the High Court or the Circuit Court or a Justice of the District Court or is a barrister or solicitor of at least ten years' standing.

(5) The Board may act notwithstanding the existence of one vacancy in its membership.

(6) The provisions of the First Schedule shall apply to the Board.

9 Power to make adoption order.

9.—(1) The Board may, on the application of a person desiring to adopt a child, make an order for the adoption of the child by that person.

(2) Where the applicants are a married couple the order shall be for the adoption of the child by them jointly.

10 Children who may be adopted.

10.—An adoption order shall not be made unless the child—

(a) resides in the State, and

(b) is, at the date of the application, not less than six months and not more than seven years of age, and

(c) is illegitimate or an orphan.

11 Persons who may apply for adoption order.

11.—(1) An adoption order shall not be made unless—

(a) the applicants are a married couple who are living together, or

(b) the applicant is the mother or natural father or a relative of the child, or

(c) the applicant is a widow.

(2) Save in the case of a married couple living together, an order shall not be made for the adoption of a child by more than one person.

(3) An adoption order shall not be made unless—

(a) the applicant and, if the applicants are a married couple, each of them has attained the age of thirty years, or

(b) the applicant has attained the age of twenty-one years and is the mother, natural father or a relative of the child, or

(c) the applicants are a married couple and the wife is the mother of the child and she or her husband has attained the age of twenty-one years, or

(d) the applicants are a married couple and one of them is the natural father or a relative of the child and each of them has attained the age of twenty-one years.

(4) An adoption order shall not be made unless the applicants reside in the State.

(5) An adoption order shall not be made unless the applicant or, if the applicants are a married couple, the husband is an Irish citizen or has been ordinarily resident in the State during the five years preceding the date of the application.

12 Religion.

12.—(1) An adoption order shall not be made unless the conditions of this section in regard to religion are fulfilled.

(2) The applicant or applicants shall be of the same religion as the child and his parents or, if the child is illegitimate, his mother.

(3) The Board may, having regard to the special circumstances of a particular case, make an adoption order although the persons referred to in subsection (2) are not all of the same religion, provided that each of them is a member of one of the following religious denominations, namely, the Church of Ireland, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the Methodist Church in Ireland, the Religious Society of Friends in Ireland, the Baptist Union of Ireland and the Brethren, commonly known as the Plymouth Brethren.

(4) The religion of a parent who is dead shall be taken to be the religion at the time of death.

(5) A child's religion shall be taken to be that in which he is being brought up.

(6) The Board shall have discretion to dispense with the condition as to the religion of a parent if unable to ascertain it.

13 Suitability of adopters.

13.—(1) The Board shall not make an adoption order unless satisfied that the applicant is of good moral character, has sufficient means to support the child and is a suitable person to have parental rights and duties in respect of the child.

(2) Where the applicants are a married couple, the Board shall satisfy itself as to the moral character and suitability of each of them.

14 Consents to adoption.

14.—(1) An adoption order shall not be made without the consent of every person being the child's mother or guardian or having charge of or control over the child, unless the Board dispenses with any such consent in accordance with this section.

(2) The Board may dispense with the consent of any person if the Board is satisfied that that person is incapable by reason of mental infirmity of giving consent or cannot be found.

(3) The consent of a ward of court shall not be dispensed with except with the sanction of the Court.

(4) A person may give consent to the making of an adoption order without knowing the identity of the applicant for the order.

(5) A consent shall be given in writing in the prescribed form.

(6) A consent may be withdrawn at any time before the making of an adoption order.

15 Validity of consent.

15.—(1) A consent shall not be valid unless it is given after the child has attained the age of six months and not earlier than three months before the application for adoption.

(2) (a) If the mother of an illegitimate child changes her religion within twelve months before the birth of the child, her consent to the adoption of the child shall not be valid unless it is given after the child attains the age of one year.

(b) If she changes her religion within twelve months after the birth, her consent shall not be valid unless given at least twelve months after the date which the Board accepts as the date of her change of religion.

(3) The Board shall satisfy itself that every person whose consent is necessary and has not been dispensed with has given consent and understands the nature and effect of the consent and of the adoption order.

16 Hearing of applications.

16.—(1) The following persons and no other persons shall be entitled to be heard on an application for an adoption order—

(a) the applicants,

(b) the mother of the child,

(c) the guardian of the child,

(d) a person having charge of or control over the child,

(e) a relative of the child,

(f) a representative of a registered adoption society which is or has been at any time concerned with the child,

(g) a priest or minister of a religion recognised by the Constitution (or, in the case of any such religion which has no ministry, an authorised representative of the religion) where the child or a parent (whether alive or dead) is claimed to be or to have been of that religion,

(h) an officer of the Board,

(i) any other person whom the Board, in its discretion, decides to hear.

(2) A person who is entitled to be heard may be represented by counsel or solicitor.

(3) The Board may hear the application wholly or partly in private.

(4) Where the Board has notice of proceedings pending in any court of justice in regard to the custody of a child in respect of whom an application is before the Board, the Board shall make no order in the matter until the proceedings have been disposed of,

17 Interim orders.

17.—(1) On an application for an adoption order the Board, in circumstances in which it would be lawful to make the adoption order, may, if it thinks fit, adjourn the application and make an order (in this Act referred to as an interim order) giving the custody of the child to the applicant for a probationary period not exceeding two years.

(2) The Board may attach to the interim order conditions in regard to the maintenance, education and supervision of the welfare of the child.

(3) The Board may revoke the interim order and shall revoke it at the request of the person to whom custody of the child has been given or of the mother or guardian of the child.

(4) A person who contravenes, whether by act or omission, a condition of an interim order shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months or to both.

18 Re-adoption.

18.—Where the adopters (or sole adopter) of a child have died, a further adoption order may be made in accordance with this Act in respect of the child and, for this purpose, the child shall be taken to be the lawful child of the deceased adopters or adopter.

19 Existing adoptions.

19.—(1) Where a person applies for an adoption order within the time limited by subsection (5) and satisfies the Board that he has had the child under his care from a date before the passing of this Act, the provisions of this section shall have effect.

(2) The adoption order may be made although the child was, at the date of the application, over seven years of age.

(3) If the child has been living with the applicant for at least three years and the Board is satisfied that the child's mother consented to his adopting the child as his own, the Board may dispense with her consent under section 14.

(4) The Board shall give due consideration to the wishes of the child having regard to his age and understanding.

(5) An application under this section shall be made within two years after the commencement of this Act or within such further period as the Board in any particular case may for reasonable cause allow.

20 Case stated for High Court.

20.—(1) The Board may (and, if so requested by an applicant for an adoption order, the mother or guardian of the child or any person having charge of or control over the child, shall, unless it considers the request frivolous) refer any question of law arising on an application for an adoption order to the High Court for determination.

(2) Subject to rules of court, a case stated under this section may be heard in camera.

21 Correction of adoption order.

21.—The Board may amend an adoption order by correcting any error in the particulars contained therein.

22 Adopted children register.

22.—(1) An tArd-Chláraitheoir shall maintain an Adopted Children Register.

(2) An entry shall be made in the register with respect to each adopted child. The entry shall be in the form set out in the Second Schedule and contain the particulars required by the form.

(3) If the date of the child's birth is unknown, the Board shall determine the probable date of birth and that date shall be entered as the child's date of birth.

(4) The country of birth of the child shall be entered in the register if the Board, being satisfied thereof, so directs.

(5) An tArd-Chláraitheoir shall keep an index to make traceable the connexion between each entry and the corresponding entry in the register of births. That index shall not be open to public inspection; and no information from it shall be given to any person except by order of a Court or of the Board.

(6) If an adoption order is amended the entry relating to it shall be amended accordingly.

(7) If an adoption order is set aside the entry shall be cancelled.

(8) The Board shall send to an tArd-Chláraitheoir the particulars necessary to enable him to comply with this section.

(9) An tArd-Chláraitheoir shall keep at his office an index to the register; and persons shall be entitled to search that index and to have a certified copy of an entry in the register or of items contained in the entry on the same terms and conditions in all respects as to fees and otherwise as are applicable under the Births and Deaths Registration Acts, 1863 to 1952, or any other enactment in respect of the register of births; and such fees shall be collected and disposed of in the same manner as fees payable under the said recited Acts.

(10) Regulations under section 6 of the Vital Statistics and Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act, 1952 (No. 8 of 1952), (which relates to the issue of abridged certificates) may provide for the issue, as respects any entry in the Adopted Children Register, of a certificate of such items contained in the entry as may be specified in the regulations.

(11) A certified copy of an entry in the Adopted Children Register, if purporting to be issued under the seal of Oifig an Ard-Chláraitheora, shall, without further proof, be received as evidence of the facts stated therein and any requirement of law for the production of a certificate of birth shall be satisfied by the production of such certified copy.

23 Contribution by public assistance authority towards expenses of adoption.

23.—A public assistance authority may, at their discretion, contribute towards the expenses incurred by any person in connexion with an application for an adoption order in respect of a child towards whose support they are entitled to contribute.

PART III. Effects of Adoption Orders.

24 Parental rights and duties.

24.—Upon an adoption order being made—

(a) the child shall be considered with regard to the rights and duties of parents and children in relation to each other as the child of the adopter or adopters born to him, her or them in lawful wedlock;

(b) the mother or guardian shall lose all parental rights and be freed from all parental duties with respect to the child.

25 Citizenship.

25.—Upon an adoption order being made in a case in which the adopter (or, where the adoption is by a married couple, the husband) is an Irish citizen the child, if not already an Irish citizen, shall be an Irish citizen.

26 Property rights.

26.—(1) Where, at any time after the making of an adoption order, an adopter or the adopted person or any other person dies intestate in respect of any real or personal property (other than property subject to an entailed interest under a disposition made before the date of the adoption order), that property shall devolve in all respects as if the adopted person were the child of the adopter born in lawful wedlock and were not the child of any other person.

(2) In any disposition of real or personal property made, whether by instrument inter vivos or by will (including codicil), after the date of an adoption order—

(a) any reference (whether express or implied) to the child or children of the adopter shall, unless the contrary intention appears, be construed as, or as including, a reference to the adopted person;

(b) any reference (whether express or implied) to the child or children of the adopted person's natural parents or either of them shall, unless the contrary intention appears, be construed as not being, or as not including, a reference to the adopted person; and

(c) any reference (whether express or implied) to a person related to the adopted person in any degree shall, unless the contrary intention appears, be construed as a reference to the person who would be related to him in that degree if he were the child of the adopter born in lawful wedlock and were not the child of any other person.

(3) For the purpose of the devolution of any property in accordance with this section and for the purpose of the construction of any disposition to which subsection (2) applies, an adopted person shall be deemed to be related to any other person being the child or adopted child of the adopter or, where the adopters are a married couple, of either of them—

(a) where the adopters are a married couple and the other person is the child or adopted child of both spouses—as brother or sister of the whole blood;

(b) in any other case—as brother or sister of the half-blood.

(4) Notwithstanding any rule of law, a disposition made by will or codicil executed before the date of an adoption order shall not be treated for the purposes of this section as made after that date by reason only that the will or codicil is confirmed by a codicil executed after that date.