The Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995

159.  After Article 54 insert the following Article—

“Adoption Contact Register

54A.— (1) The Registrar General shall maintain at the General Register Office a register to be called the Adoption Contact Register.

(2) The register shall be in two parts—

(a) Part I: Adopted Persons; and

(b) Part II: Relatives.

(3) The Registrar General shall, on payment of such fee as may be prescribed, enter in Part I of the register the name and address of any adopted person who fulfils the conditions in paragraph (4) and who gives notice that he wishes to contact any relative of his.

(4) The conditions are that—

(a) a record of the adopted person’s birth is kept by the Registrar General; and

(b) the adopted person has attained the age of 18 years and—

(i) has been supplied by the Registrar General with information under Article 54; or

(ii) has satisfied the Registrar General that he has such information as is necessary to enable him to obtain a certified copy of the record of his birth.

(5) The Registrar General shall, on payment of such fee as may be prescribed, enter in Part II of the register the name and address of any person who fulfils the conditions in paragraph (6) and who gives notice that he wishes to contact an adopted person.

(6) The conditions are—

(a) that a record of the adopted person’s birth is kept by the Registrar General; and

(b) that the person giving notice under paragraph (5) has attained the age of 18 years and has satisfied the Registrar General that—

(i) he is a relative of the adopted person; and

(ii) he has such information as is necessary to enable him to obtain a certified copy of the record of the adopted person’s birth.

(7) The Registrar General shall, on receiving notice from any person named in an entry in the register that he wishes the entry to be cancelled, cancel the entry.

(8) Any notice given under this Article must be in such form as may be determined by the Registrar General.

(9) The Registrar General shall transmit to an adopted person whose name is entered in Part I of the register the name and address of any relative in respect of whom there is an entry in Part II of the register.

(10) Any entry cancelled under paragraph (7) ceases from the time of cancellation to be an entry for the purposes of paragraph (9).

(11) The register shall not be open to public inspection or search and the Registrar General shall not supply any person with information entered in the register (whether in an uncancelled or a cancelled entry) except in accordance with this Article.

(12) The register may be kept by means of a computer.

(13) In this Article—

(a) “relative” means any person (other than an adoptive relative) who is related to the adopted person by blood (including half-blood) or marriage; and

(b) “address” includes any address at or through which the person concerned may be contacted.”.