Adoption (Hague Convention) Act (Northern Ireland) 1969

6 Annulment etc., of certain foreign adoptions and determinations. N.I.

(1) The court may, upon an application under this subsection, by order annul [F1 an adoption effected by a foreign convention order or] a foreign convention adoption—

(a) on the ground that at the relevant time the adoption was prohibited by a notified provision, if under the internal law then in force in the country of which the adopter was then a national or the adopters were then nationals the adoption could have been impugned on that ground;

(b) on the ground that at the relevant time the adoption contravened provisions relating to consents of the internal law relating to adoption of the country of which the adopted person was then a national, if under that law the adoption could then have been impugned on that ground;

(c) on any other ground on which the adoption can be impugned under the law for the time being in force in the country in which the adoption was effected.

(2) Where a person adopted by his father or mother alone by virtue of a foreign convention adoption has subsequently become a legitimated person on the marriage of [F2 , or formation of a civil partnership by,] his father and mother, the court may, upon an application under this subsection by the parties concerned, by order revoke the adoption.

(3) The court may, upon an application under this subsection—

(a) order that a foreign adoption or a determination shall cease to be valid in Northern Ireland on the ground that the adoption or determination is contrary to public policy or that the authority which purported to authorise the adoption or make the determination was not competent to entertain the case;

(b) decide the extent, if any, to which a determination has been affected by a subsequent determination.

(4) Except as provided by this section, the validity of a foreign adoption or a determination shall not be impugned in proceedings in any court in Northern Ireland.

F1 1978 c.22

F2 Words in s. 6(2) inserted (13.1.2020) by The Marriage (Same-sex Couples) and Civil Partnership (Opposite-sex Couples) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/1514), regs. 1(2), 29(4) (with regs. 6-9)