2021 No. 64
Children And Young Persons, England And Wales
Children And Young Persons, Northern Ireland

The Special Restrictions on Adoptions from Abroad (Nigeria) Order 2021

Made
Laid before Parliament
Coming into force
The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 9(4) of the Children and Adoption Act 20061, makes the following Order.
In accordance with section 9(5)(a) of that Act, the Secretary of State has consulted with Welsh Ministers2 and, in accordance with section 9(5)(b) of that Act, the Secretary of State has consulted with the Department of Health in Northern Ireland3.

Citation and Commencement1.

This Order may be cited as the Special Restrictions on Adoptions from Abroad (Nigeria) Order 2021 and it comes into force on 12th March 2021.

Declaration of special restrictions2.

Special restrictions are to apply for the time being in relation to the bringing of children into the United Kingdom from Nigeria in the cases mentioned in section 9(2) of the Children and Adoption Act 2006.

Vicky Ford
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
Department for Education
EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note is not part of the Order)

Section 9(4) of the Children and Adoption Act 2006 provides for the Secretary of State by order to declare that special restrictions are to apply for the time being to the bringing of children into the United Kingdom from a country or territory outside the British Islands in certain cases involving adoption.

Section 11(1) of that Act provides that those special restrictions are that the appropriate authority is not to take any step, which might otherwise have been taken, in connection with furthering the bringing of children into the United Kingdom in those cases. Section 11(2) provides that the relevant steps may be taken if the prospective adopters satisfy the appropriate authority (defined in section 11(4)) that the authority should take those steps despite the special restrictions.

By article 2 of this Order, the Secretary of State declares that special restrictions are to apply to Nigeria.

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