Adoption act, 1952

Act Number25
Enactment Date13 December 1952


Number 25 of 1952.


ADOPTION ACT, 1952.


ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

PART I.

Preliminary and General.

Section

1.

Short title.

2.

Commencement.

3.

Definitions.

4.

Making of arrangements for adoption.

5.

Rules.

6.

Offences by bodies corporate.

7.

Expenses.

PART II.

Adoption Orders.

8.

An Bord Uchtála.

9.

Power to make adoption order.

10.

Children who may be adopted.

11.

Persons who may apply for adoption order.

12.

Religion.

13.

Suitability of adopters.

14.

Consents to adoption.

15.

Validity of consent.

16.

Hearing of applications.

17.

Interim orders.

18.

Re-adoption.

19.

Existing adoptions.

20.

Case stated for High Court.

21.

Correction of adoption order.

22.

Adopted children register.

23.

Contribution by public assistance authority towards expenses of adoption.

PART III.

Effects of Adoption Orders.

24.

Parental rights and duties.

25.

Citizenship.

26.

Property rights.

27.

Succession duty, legacy duty, customs duty and stamp duty on land.

28.

Fatal Accidents and Workmen's Compensation Acts.

29.

Subsequent marriage of natural parents.

30.

Assurance on life of adopted child under ten years of age.

31.

Affiliation orders, etc.

32.

Restriction of Part I of Children Act, 1908.

33.

Termination of parental authority of public assistance authority.

PART IV.

Registration of Adoption Societies.

34.

Restriction on making arrangements for adoption.

35.

The Adoption Societies Register.

36.

Registration of adoption societies.

37.

Cancellation of registration.

38.

Furnishing of information and inspection of books.

39.

Explanation to mother or guardian as to effect of adoption.

PART V.

Miscellaneous.

40.

Restriction on sending children abroad.

41.

Prohibition upon certain advertisements.

42.

Prohibition of certain payments.

43.

False statements.

FIRST SCHEDULE .

An Bord Uchtála.

SECOND SCHEDULE .

Form of Entry in Adopted Children Register.


Acts Referred to

Vital Statistics and Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act, 1952

No. 8 of 1952

Finance Act, 1936

No. 31 of 1936

Legitimacy Act, 1931

No. 13 of 1931

Children Act, 1934

No. 15 of 1934

Public Assistance Act, 1939

No. 27 of 1939


Number 25 of 1952.


ADOPTION ACT, 1952.


AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE ADOPTION OF CHILDREN. [13th December, 1952.]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:—

PART I.

Preliminary and General.

Short title.

1.—This Act may be cited as the Adoption Act, 1952.

Commencement.

2.—This Act shall come into operation on such day as the Minister may by order appoint.

Definitions.

3.—In this Act—

“adoption order” means an order under section 9;

“the Board” means the body established by section 8;

“child” means (save where the context otherwise requires) any person under twenty-one years of age;

“guardian”, in relation to a child, means a person appointed, according to law, to be guardian of his person by deed or will or by order of a court of competent jurisdiction;

“interim order” means an order under section 17;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Justice;

“orphan” means a child whose parents are dead;

“parent” does not include the natural father of an illegitimate child;

“prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under section 5;

“registered adoption society” means a body of persons entered in the Adoption Societies Register;

“relative” means grandparent, brother, sister, uncle or aunt, whether of the whole blood, of the half-blood or by affinity, relationship to an illegitimate child being traced through the mother only.

Making of arrangements for adoption.

4.—In this Act references to the making of arrangements for the adoption of a child shall be construed as including references to—

(a) the making of any agreement or arrangement for, or facilitating, the adoption or maintenance of the child by any person, and

(b) the initiation of or taking part in any negotiations of which the purpose or effect is the making of any such agreement or arrangement, and

(c) the causing of another to initiate or take part in any such negotiations.

Rules.

5.—The Board, with the consent of the Minister, may make rules for the regulation of its procedure or for any matter referred to in this Act as prescribed.

Offences by bodies corporate.

6.—Where an offence under this Act is committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been facilitated by any neglect on the part of any person, being a director, manager, secretary or other officer of the body corporate, that person shall also be guilty of the offence and may be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

Expenses.

7.—The expenses incurred by a Minister of State or the Board in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

PART II.

Adoption Orders.

An Bord Uchtála.

8.—(1) There shall be a body to be known as An Bord Uchtála (in this Act referred to as the Board) to fulfil the functions assigned to it by this Act.

(2) The Board shall consist of a Chairman and six ordinary members.

(3) The Chairman and the ordinary members shall be appointed by the Government.

(4) A person shall not be appointed Chairman unless he is or has been a Judge of the Supreme Court, the High Court or the Circuit Court or a Justice of the District Court or is a barrister or solicitor of at least ten years' standing.

(5) The Board may act notwithstanding the existence of one vacancy in its membership.

(6) The provisions of the First Schedule shall apply to the Board.

Power to make adoption order.

9.—(1) The Board may, on the application of a person desiring to adopt a child, make an order for the adoption of the child by that person.

(2) Where the applicants are a married couple the order shall be for the adoption of the child by them jointly.

Children who may be adopted.

10.—An adoption order shall not be made unless the child—

(a) resides in the State, and

(b) is, at the date of the application, not less than six months and not more than seven years of age, and

(c) is illegitimate or an orphan.

Persons who may apply for adoption order.

11.—(1) An adoption order shall not be made unless—

(a) the applicants are a married couple who are living together, or

(b) the applicant is the mother or natural father or a relative of the child, or

(c) the applicant is a widow.

(2) Save in the case of a married couple living together, an order shall not be made for the adoption of a child by more than one person.

(3) An adoption order shall not be made unless—

(a) the applicant and, if the applicants are a married couple, each of them has attained the age of thirty years, or

(b) the applicant has attained the age of twenty-one years and is the mother, natural father or a relative of the child, or

(c) the applicants are a married couple and the wife is the mother of the child and she or her husband has attained the age of twenty-one years, or

(d) the applicants are a married couple and one of them is the natural father or a relative of the child and each of them has attained the age of twenty-one years.

(4) An adoption order shall not be made unless the applicants reside in the State.

(5) An adoption order shall not be made unless the applicant or, if the applicants are a married couple, the husband is an Irish citizen or has been ordinarily resident in the State during the five years preceding the date of the application.

Religion.

12.—(1) An adoption order shall not be made unless the conditions of this section in regard to religion are fulfilled.

(2) The applicant or applicants shall be of the same religion as the child and his parents or, if the child is illegitimate, his mother.

(3) The Board may, having regard to the special circumstances of a particular case, make an adoption order although the persons referred to in subsection (2) are not all of the same religion, provided that each of them is a member of one of the following religious denominations, namely, the Church of Ireland, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the Methodist Church in Ireland, the Religious Society of Friends in Ireland, the Baptist Union of Ireland and the Brethren, commonly known as the Plymouth Brethren.

(4) The religion of a parent who is dead shall be taken to be the religion at the time of death.

(5) A child's religion shall be taken to be that in which he is being brought up.

(6) The Board shall have discretion to dispense with the condition as to the religion of a parent if unable to ascertain it.

Suitability of adopters.

13.—(1) The Board shall not make an adoption order unless satisfied that the applicant is of good moral character, has sufficient means to support the child and is a suitable person to have parental rights and duties in respect of the child.

(2) Where the applicants are a married couple, the Board shall satisfy itself as to the moral character and suitability of each of them.

Consents to adoption.

14.—(1) An adoption order shall not be made without the consent of every person being the child's mother or guardian or having charge of or control over the child, unless the Board dispenses with any such consent in accordance with this section.

(2) The Board may dispense with the consent of any person if the Board is satisfied that...

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