Adoption and Children Act (Northern Ireland) 2022

Adoption Contact Register

Adoption Contact Register

79.—(1) The Registrar General must maintain at the General Register Office in accordance with regulations a register in two Parts to be called the Adoption Contact Register.

(2) Part 1 of the register is to contain the prescribed information about adopted persons who have given the prescribed notice expressing their wishes as to making contact with their relatives.

(3) The Registrar General may only make an entry in Part 1 of the register for an adopted person—

(a) a record of whose birth is kept by the Registrar General;

(b) who has attained the age of 18 years; and

(c) who the Registrar General is satisfied has such information as is necessary to enable the person to obtain a certified copy of the record of the person’s birth.

(4) Part 2 of the register is to contain the prescribed information about persons who have given the prescribed notice expressing their wishes, as relatives of adopted persons, as to making contact with those persons.

(5) The Registrar General may only make an entry in Part 2 of the register for a person—

(a) who has attained the age of 18 years; and

(b) who the Registrar General is satisfied is a relative of an adopted person and has such information as is necessary to enable the relative to obtain a certified copy of the record of the adopted person’s birth.

(6) Regulations may provide for—

(a) the disclosure of information contained in one Part of the register to persons for whom there is an entry in the other Part;

(b) the payment of prescribed fees in respect of the making or alteration of entries in the register and the disclosure of information contained in the register.

Adoption Contact Register: supplementary

80.—(1) The Adoption Contact Register is not to be open to public inspection or search.

(2) In section 79, “relative”, in relation to an adopted person, means any person who (but for the adopted person’s adoption) would be related to the adopted person by blood (including half-blood), marriage or civil partnership.

(3) The Registrar General must not give any information entered in the register to any person except in accordance with subsection (6)(a) of that section or regulations made by virtue of section 63(4)(b).

Interpretation

81.—(1) In this Chapter—

“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations;

“records” includes certified copies kept by the Registrar General of entries in any register of births;

“registers of live-births” means the registers of live-births made under the Births and Deaths Registration (Northern Ireland) Order 1976;

“regulations” means regulations made by the Department of Finance.

(2) Any register, record or index maintained under this Chapter may be maintained in any form the Registrar General considers appropriate; and references (however expressed) to entries in such a register, or to their amendment, marking or cancellation, are to be read accordingly.