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“Prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of State | |
after consultation with the Assembly. | |
(2) If a person— | |
(a) contravenes subsection (1), or | |
(b) causes a person to prepare a report, or submits to any person a report | 5 |
which has been prepared, in contravention of that subsection, | |
he is guilty of an offence. | |
(3) If a person who works for an adoption society— | |
(a) contravenes subsection (1), or | |
(b) causes a person to prepare a report, or submits to any person a report | 10 |
which has been prepared, in contravention of that subsection, | |
the person who manages the society is also guilty of the offence. | |
(4) A person is not guilty of an offence under subsection (2)(b) unless it is proved | |
that he knew or had reason to suspect that the report would be, or had been, | |
prepared in contravention of subsection (1). | 15 |
But this subsection only applies if sufficient evidence is adduced to raise an | |
issue as to whether the person had the knowledge or reason mentioned. | |
(5) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary | |
conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or a fine not | |
exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or both. | 20 |
94 Prohibition of certain payments | |
(1) This section applies to any payment (other than an excepted payment) which | |
is made for or in consideration of— | |
(a) the adoption of a child, | |
(b) giving any consent required in connection with the adoption of a child, | 25 |
(c) removing from the United Kingdom a child who is a Commonwealth | |
citizen, or is habitually resident in the United Kingdom, to a place | |
outside the British Islands for the purpose of adoption, | |
(d) a person (who is neither an adoption agency nor acting in pursuance of | |
an order of the High Court) taking any step mentioned in section 91(2), | 30 |
(e) preparing, causing to be prepared or submitting a report the | |
preparation of which contravenes section 93(1). | |
(2) In this section and section 95, removing a child from the United Kingdom has | |
the same meaning as in section 85. | |
(3) Any person who— | 35 |
(a) makes any payment to which this section applies, | |
(b) agrees or offers to make any such payment, or | |
(c) receives or agrees to receive or attempts to obtain any such payment, | |
is guilty of an offence. | |
(4) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary | 40 |
conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or a fine not | |
exceeding £10,000, or both. | |
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95 Excepted payments | |
(1) A payment is an excepted payment if it is made by virtue of, or in accordance | |
with provision made by or under, this Act, the Adoption (Scotland) Act 1978 | |
(c. 28) or the Adoption (Northern Ireland) Order 1987. | |
(2) A payment is an excepted payment if it is made to a registered adoption society | 5 |
by— | |
(a) a parent or guardian of a child, or | |
(b) a person who adopts or proposes to adopt a child, | |
in respect of expenses reasonably incurred by the society in connection with | |
the adoption or proposed adoption of the child. | 10 |
(3) A payment is an excepted payment if it is made in respect of any legal or | |
medical expenses incurred or to be incurred by any person in connection with | |
an application to a court which he has made or proposes to make for an | |
adoption order, a placement order, or an order under section 26 or 84. | |
(4) A payment made as mentioned in section 94(1)(c) is an excepted payment if— | 15 |
(a) the condition in section 85(2) is met, and | |
(b) the payment is made in respect of the travel and accommodation | |
expenses reasonably incurred in removing the child from the United | |
Kingdom for the purpose of adoption. | |
96 Sections 91 to 95: interpretation | 20 |
In sections 91 to 95— | |
(a) “adoption agency” includes a Scottish or Northern Irish adoption | |
agency, | |
(b) “payment” includes reward, | |
(c) references to adoption are to the adoption of persons, wherever they | 25 |
may be habitually resident, effected under the law of any country or | |
territory, whether within or outside the British Islands. | |
Proceedings | |
97 Proceedings for offences | |
Proceedings for an offence by virtue of section 9 or 59 may not, without the | 30 |
written consent of the Attorney General, be taken by any person other than the | |
National Care Standards Commission or the Assembly. | |
98 Appeals | |
In section 94 of the 1989 Act (appeals under that Act), in subsections (1)(a) and | |
(2), after “this Act” there is inserted “or the Adoption and Children Act 2002”. | 35 |
99 Privacy | |
(1) Proceedings under this Act in the High Court or a County Court may be heard | |
and determined in private. | |
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(2) In section 12 of the Administration of Justice Act 1960 (c. 65) (publication of | |
information relating to proceedings in private), in subsection (1)(a)(ii), after | |
“1989” there is inserted “or the Adoption and Children Act 2002”. | |
(3) In section 97 of the 1989 Act (privacy for children involved in certain | |
proceedings), after “this Act” in subsections (1) and (2) there is inserted “or the | 5 |
Adoption and Children Act 2002”. | |
The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service | |
100 Officers of the Service | |
(1) For the purposes of— | |
(a) any relevant application, | 10 |
(b) the signification by any person of any consent to placement or | |
adoption, | |
rules must provide for the appointment in prescribed cases of an officer of the | |
Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (“the Service”). | |
(2) The rules may provide for the appointment of such an officer in other | 15 |
circumstances in which it appears to the Lord Chancellor to be necessary or | |
expedient to do so. | |
(3) The rules may provide for the officer— | |
(a) to act on behalf of the child upon the hearing of any relevant | |
application, with the duty of safeguarding the interests of the child in | 20 |
the prescribed manner, | |
(b) where the court so requests, to prepare a report on matters relating to | |
the welfare of the child in question, | |
(c) to witness documents which signify consent to placement or adoption, | |
(d) to perform prescribed functions. | 25 |
(4) A report prepared in pursuance of the rules on matters relating to the welfare | |
of a child must— | |
(a) deal with prescribed matters (unless the court orders otherwise), and | |
(b) be made in the manner required by the court. | |
(5) A person who— | 30 |
(a) in the case of an application for the making, varying or revocation of a | |
placement order, is employed by the local authority which made the | |
application, | |
(b) in the case of an application for an adoption order in respect of a child | |
who was placed for adoption, is employed by the adoption agency | 35 |
which placed him, or | |
(c) is within a prescribed description, | |
is not to be appointed under subsection (1) or (2). | |
(6) In this section, “relevant application” means an application for— | |
(a) the making, varying or revocation of a placement order, | 40 |
(b) the making of an order under section 26, or the varying or revocation of | |
such an order, | |
(c) the making of an adoption order, or | |
(d) the making of an order under section 84. | |
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(7) Rules may make provision as to the assistance which the court may require an | |
officer of the Service to give to it. | |
101 Right of officers of the Service to have access to adoption agency records | |
(1) Where an officer of the Service has been appointed to act under section 100(1), | |
he has the right at all reasonable times to examine and take copies of any | 5 |
records of, or held by, an adoption agency which were compiled in connection | |
with the making, or proposed making, by any person of any application under | |
this Part in respect of the child concerned. | |
(2) Where an officer of the Service takes a copy of any record which he is entitled | |
to examine under this section, that copy or any part of it is admissible as | 10 |
evidence of any matter referred to in any— | |
(a) report which he makes to the court in the proceedings in question, or | |
(b) evidence which he gives in those proceedings. | |
(3) Subsection (2) has effect regardless of any enactment or rule of law which | |
would otherwise prevent the record in question being admissible in evidence. | 15 |
Evidence | |
102 Evidence of consent | |
(1) If a document signifying any consent which is required by this Part to be given | |
is witnessed in accordance with rules, it is to be admissible in evidence without | |
further proof of the signature of the person by whom it was executed. | 20 |
(2) A document signifying any such consent which purports to be witnessed in | |
accordance with rules is to be presumed to be so witnessed, and to have been | |
executed and witnessed on the date and at the place specified in the document, | |
unless the contrary is proved. | |
Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Islands | 25 |
103 Effect of certain Scottish orders and provisions | |
(1) A Scottish adoption order or an order under section 25 of the Adoption | |
(Scotland) Act 1978 (c. 28) (interim adoption orders) has effect in England and | |
Wales as it has in Scotland, but as if references to the parental responsibilities | |
and the parental rights in relation to a child were to parental responsibility for | 30 |
the child. | |
(2) An order made under section 18 of the Adoption (Scotland) Act 1978 (c. 28) | |
(freeing orders), and the revocation or variation of such an order under section | |
20 or 21 of that Act, have effect in England and Wales as they have effect in | |
Scotland, but as if references to the parental responsibilities and the parental | 35 |
rights in relation to a child were to parental responsibility for the child. | |
(3) Any person who— | |
(a) contravenes section 27(1) of that Act (removal where adoption agreed | |
etc.), or | |
(b) contravenes section 28(1) or (2) of that Act (removal where applicant | 40 |
provided home), | |
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is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a | |
term not exceeding three months, or a fine not exceeding level 5 on the | |
standard scale, or both. | |
(4) Orders made under section 29 of that Act (order to return or not to remove | |
child) are to have effect in England and Wales as if they were orders of the High | 5 |
Court under section 41 of this Act. | |
104 Effect of certain Northern Irish orders and provisions | |
(1) A Northern Irish adoption order or an order under Article 26 of the Adoption | |
(Northern Ireland) Order 1987 (interim orders) has effect in England and Wales | |
as it has in Northern Ireland. | 10 |
(2) An order made under Article 17 or 18 of the Adoption (Northern Ireland) | |
Order 1987 (freeing orders), or the variation or revocation of such an order | |
under Article 20 or 21 of that Order, have effect in England and Wales as they | |
have in Northern Ireland. | |
(3) Any person who— | 15 |
(a) contravenes Article 28(1) or (2) of the Adoption (Northern Ireland) | |
Order 1987 (removal where adoption agreed etc.), or | |
(b) contravenes Article 29(1) or (2) of that Order (removal where applicant | |
provided home), | |
is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a | 20 |
term not exceeding three months, or a fine not exceeding level 5 on the | |
standard scale, or both. | |
(4) Orders made under Article 30 of that Order (order to return or not to remove | |
child) are to have effect in England and Wales as if they were orders of the High | |
Court under section 41 of this Act. | 25 |
105 Use of adoption records from other parts of the British Islands | |
Any document which is receivable as evidence of any matter— | |
(a) in Scotland under section 45(2) of the Adoption (Scotland) Act 1978 (c. | |
28), | |
(b) in Northern Ireland under Article 63(1) of the Adoption (Northern | 30 |
Ireland) Order 1987, or | |
(c) in the Isle of Man or any of the Channel Islands under an enactment | |
corresponding to section 77(3) of this Act, | |
is also receivable as evidence of that matter in England and Wales. | |
106 Channel Islands and the Isle of Man | 35 |
(1) Regulations may provide— | |
(a) for a reference in any provision of this Act to an order of a court to | |
include an order of a court in the Isle of Man or any of the Channel | |
Islands which appears to the Secretary of State to correspond in its | |
effect to the order in question, | 40 |
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(b) for a reference in any provision of this Act to an adoption agency to | |
include a person who appears to the Secretary of State to exercise | |
functions under the law of the Isle of Man or any of the Channel Islands | |
which correspond to those of an adoption agency and for any reference | |
in any provision of this Act to a child placed for adoption by an | 5 |
adoption agency to be read accordingly, | |
(c) for a reference in any provision of this Act to an enactment (including | |
an enactment contained in this Act) to include a provision of the law of | |
the Isle of Man or any of the Channel Islands which appears to the | |
Secretary of State to correspond in its effect to the enactment, | 10 |
(d) for any reference in any provision of this Act to the United Kingdom to | |
include the Isle of Man or any of the Channel Islands. | |
(2) Regulations may modify any provision of this Act, as it applies to any order | |
made, or other thing done, under the law of the Isle of Man or any of the | |
Channel Islands. | 15 |
(3) In this section, “regulations” means regulations made by the Secretary of State | |
after consultation with the Assembly. | |
General | |
107 Avoiding delay | |
(1) In proceedings in which a question may arise as to whether an adoption order | 20 |
or placement order should be made, or any other question with respect to such | |
an order, the court must (in the light of any rules made by virtue of subsection | |
(2))— | |
(a) draw up a timetable with a view to determining such a question | |
without delay, and | 25 |
(b) give such directions as it considers appropriate for the purpose of | |
ensuring that the timetable is adhered to. | |
(2) Rules may— | |
(a) prescribe periods within which prescribed steps must be taken in | |
relation to such proceedings, and | 30 |
(b) make other provision with respect to such proceedings for the purpose | |
of ensuring that such questions are determined without delay. | |
108 Service of notices etc. | |
Any notice or information required to be given by virtue of this Act may be | |
given by post. | 35 |
Part 2 | |
Amendments of the Children Act 1989 | |
109 Parental responsibility of unmarried father | |
(1) Section 4 of the 1989 Act (acquisition of responsibility by the father of a child | |
who is not married to the child’s mother) is amended as follows. | 40 |
(2) In subsection (1) (cases where parental responsibility is acquired), for the | |
words after “birth” there is substituted “, the father shall acquire parental | |
responsibility for the child if— | |
(a) he becomes registered as the child’s father under any of the enactments | |
specified in subsection (1A); | 45 |
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(b) he and the child’s mother make an agreement (a “parental | |
responsibility agreement”) providing for him to have parental | |
responsibility for the child; or | |
(c) the court, on his application, orders that he shall have parental | |
responsibility for the child.” | 5 |
(3) After that subsection there is inserted— | |
“(1A) The enactments referred to in subsection (1)(a) are— | |
(a) paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of section 10(1) and of section 10A(1) | |
of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 (c. 20); | |
(b) paragraphs (a), (b)(i) and (c) of section 18(1), and sections | 10 |
18(2)(b) and 20(1)(a) of the Registration of Births, Deaths and | |
Marriages (Scotland) Act 1965 (c. 49); and | |
(c) sub-paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of Article 14(3) of the Births and | |
Deaths Registration (Northern Ireland) Order 1976 (S.I. 1976/ | |
1041 (N.I. 14)). | 15 |
(1B) The Lord Chancellor may by order amend subsection (1A) so as to add | |
further enactments to the list in that subsection.” | |
(4) For subsection (3) there is substituted— | |
“(2A) A person who has acquired parental responsibility under subsection (1) | |
shall cease to have that responsibility only if the court so orders. | 20 |
(3) The court may make an order under subsection (2A) on the | |
application— | |
(a) of any person who has parental responsibility for the child; or | |
(b) with the leave of the court, of the child himself, | |
subject, in the case of parental responsibility acquired under subsection | 25 |
(1)(c), to section 12(4).” | |
(5) Accordingly, in section 2(2) of the 1989 Act (a father of a child who is not | |
married to the child’s mother shall not have parental responsibility for the | |
child unless he acquires it in accordance with the provisions of the Act), for the | |
words from “shall not” to “acquires it” there is substituted “shall have parental | 30 |
responsibility for the child if he has acquired it (and has not ceased to have it)”. | |
(6) In section 104 of the 1989 Act (regulations and orders)— | |
(a) in subsection (2), after “section” there is inserted “4(1B),”, and | |
(b) in subsection (3), after “section” there is inserted “4(1B) or”. | |
(7) Paragraph (a) of section 4(1) of the 1989 Act, as substituted by subsection (2) of | 35 |
this section, does not confer parental responsibility on a man who was | |
registered under an enactment referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of section | |
4(1A) of that Act, as inserted by subsection (3) of this section, before the | |
commencement of subsection (3) in relation to that paragraph. | |
110 Acquisition of parental responsibility by step-parent | 40 |
After section 4 of the 1989 Act there is inserted— | |
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