The Adoption Board has told the High Court it has concerns about whether Ethiopian law on adoption is compatible with Irish law, including whether such adoptions terminate the rights of natural parents.
Such concerns have raised doubt over whether children adopted from Ethiopia may ultimately be registered as citizens here and the situation has yet to be fully clarified, the board said. Some 60 adoptions have been registered since 1991 and the board is recording an increase in annual figures, with a current average of nine a year.
The board expressed its concerns yesterday during the hearing of a challenge by a couple to decisions by the board which, the couple claim, are preventing them from adopting a baby girl from Ethiopia.
Peter Finlay SC, for the couple, who had previously adopted another child from Ethiopia, said the proposed second adoption may fall through within days if they do not get certain additional documents.
Kiernan Gildea, registrar of the board, said in an affidavit the board was mindful of the stress involved for those undertaking inter-country adoptions, but it could not yet, pending a full assessment not yet completed, provide full assurance that Ethiopian adoptions are compatible with Irish law.
The hearing of proceedings by the couple against the board opened yesterday before Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan and continues today.
In his affidavit, Mr Gildea said the board had two statutory responsibilities regarding adoption: to issue written declarations as to which persons are eligible and suitable to adopt; and to enter in a register of foreign adoptions those adoptions that comply with the definition of a "foreign adoption" in Section 1 of the Adoption Act 1991.
In this case, the couple had declarations of eligibility and suitability to adopt and that position remained unchanged. The declarations were not specific to any particular country.
For a foreign adoption to be registered here, it must meet certain conditions under the 1991 Act, including that it be "in accordance with the law of the place where it was effected", and must have substantially the same effect as an adoption effected under Irish law.
The board decided in late 2006 to create a general template of issues to be addressed to be used in seeking legal advice on the adoption laws in any particular country, and had sought counsel's opinion in that regard. This review of the law was also a preliminary to deciding if the board should recommend to Government whether there should be a bilateral adoption agreement with the country in question.
After the review was completed last month, the board said it had to take account of issues raised by counsel concerning the compatibility of Ethiopian adoption law and Irish law.
Counsel's opinion relating to Ethiopian law indicated the adopted child retained their bonds with their family of origin and raised issues as to whether adoption would secure guardianship of the child.
It also seemed Ethiopian law could, in certain circumstances, allow a claim for maintenance to be made by an adopted child against their natural family. The adopted child could also be obliged to provide maintenance for members of that family, the board was also advised.
The information raised reservations about whether the effect of an adoption under Ethiopian law was the same as under Irish law.
Mr Gildea said that, on the basis of the review and legal advice, the board believed it could not conclude that an adoption in Ethiopia would comply with the requirements of Section 1 of the 1991 Act. The board therefore could not say it would be able to register an Ethiopian adoption as a foreign adoption and needed to conduct further inquiries and take further advice.
