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CHAPTER VII |
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MISCELLANEOUS |
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Restrictions |
| Restrictions on making arrangements for adoption, etc. |
76. - (1) A person must not make arrangements for the adoption of a child unless-
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(a) the person is an adoption agency (including a Scottish or Northern Irish adoption agency) or the arrangement is made with such an agency, |
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(b) the person is acting in pursuance of an order of the High Court, or |
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(c) the prospective adopter is a step-parent or relative of the child. |
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(2) If a person contravenes subsection (1)-
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(b) if that person is an adoption society, the person who manages the society, |
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are each guilty of an offence.
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(3) If a person receives a child who is placed with him for adoption in contravention of subsection (1), the prospective adopter is guilty of an offence.
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(4) Where a person is charged with an offence under subsection (3), it is a defence for him to prove that he neither knew nor had reasonable cause to believe that the child was placed with him in contravention of subsection (1).
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(5) A person guilty of an offence under this section is 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.
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| Restriction on advertisements etc. |
77. - (1) This section applies to an advertisement indicating-
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(a) that the parent or guardian of a child desires to cause the child to be adopted, or |
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(b) that a person desires to adopt a child, |
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or otherwise indicating that a person is willing to make arrangements for the adoption of a child.
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(2) This section applies to information about how to make arrangements for the adoption of a child, where the arrangements would, if made, contravene section 76(1), (whether or not the information includes a warning that the making of the arrangements may constitute an offence).
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(3) Any person who-
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(a) publishes or distributes in England and Wales an advertisement or information to which this section applies, or |
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(b) causes such an advertisement or information to be published or distributed in England and Wales, |
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is guilty of an offence.
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(4) For the purposes of this section-
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(a) publishing or distributing an advertisement or information means publishing it or distributing it to the public and includes doing so by electronic means (for example, by means of the internet), |
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(b) the public includes selected members of the public as well as the public generally or any section of the public. |
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(5) Subsection (3) does not apply-
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(a) to the publication or distribution of an advertisement indicating that an adoption agency (including a Scottish or Northern Irish adoption agency) makes arrangements for the adoption of children, |
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(b) to the publication or distribution of an advertisement placed by an adoption agency (including a Scottish or Northern Irish adoption agency) indicating that a child is available for adoption, |
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(c) to anything done by a person outside the United Kingdom by means of a website which is accessed in England and Wales if he is then habitually resident outside the United Kingdom. |
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(6) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section (other than one of distributing an advertisement or information, or causing it to be distributed, by electronic means) to prove that he neither knew, nor had reasonable cause to believe, that this section applied to the advertisement or information.
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(7) Where the offence charged is one of distributing an advertisement or information, or causing it to be distributed, by electronic means, it is a defence for the person charged with the offence to prove-
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(a) that he did not know that what was distributed was an advertisement or information to which this section applies, or |
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(b) that, when he became aware of that fact, he was not able to prevent its further distribution. |
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(8) A person guilty of an offence under this section is 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.
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(9) The Secretary of State may, after consultation with the Assembly, by order make any amendments of this section which he considers necessary or expedient in consequence of any developments in technology relating to publishing or distributing information by electronic means.
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| Prohibition on certain payments. |
78. - (1) This section applies to any payment or reward which-
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(a) is made or given for or in consideration of- |
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(i) the adoption by a person of a child,
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(ii) the giving by a person of any consent required in connection with the adoption of a child,
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(iii) the handing over of a child by a person with a view to the adoption of the child, or
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(iv) the making by a person of any arrangements for the adoption of a child, and
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(b) does not fall within any of subsections (3) to (9). |
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(2) Any person who-
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(a) makes or gives any payment or reward to which this section applies, |
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(b) agrees or offers to make or give any such payment or reward, or |
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(c) receives or agrees to receive or attempts to obtain any such payment or reward, |
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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.
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(3) A payment falls within this subsection if it is made by virtue of or in accordance with this Act, the Adoption (Scotland) Act 1978 or the Adoption (Northern Ireland) Order 1987.
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(4) A payment falls within this subsection if it is made to a registered adoption society by-
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(a) a parent or guardian of a child, or |
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(b) a person who adopts or proposes to adopt a child, |
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in respect of expenses reasonably incurred by the society in connection with the adoption of the child.
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(5) A payment falls within this subsection if it-
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(a) is made to a local authority by a person who adopts or proposes to adopt a child habitually resident outside the United Kingdom, and |
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(b) is in respect of expenses reasonably incurred by the authority. |
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(6) A payment falls within this subsection if it-
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(a) is made to a local authority by a person who proposes to adopt a child who has been brought into the United Kingdom in contravention of any requirement imposed by virtue of this Act, and |
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(b) is in respect of expenses reasonably incurred by the authority. |
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(7) A payment falls within this subsection 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 or an order under section 71.
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(8) A payment falls within this subsection if it is made by an adoption agency to another adoption agency in consideration of the placing of a child with any person with a view to the child's adoption.
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(9) A payment falls within this subsection if it is made by an adoption agency to a voluntary organisation as a fee for the services of that organisation in putting that adoption agency into contact with another adoption agency with a view to the making of arrangements between the adoption agencies for the adoption of a child.
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(10) In subsections (8) and (9), "adoption agency" includes a Scottish or Northern Irish adoption agency.
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Proceedings |
| Proceedings for offences. |
79. - (1) Proceedings for an offence by virtue of section 8 may not, without the written consent of the Attorney General, be taken by any person other than the registration authority.
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(2) Proceedings for an offence by virtue of section 76 may be taken by the registration authority.
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(3) Proceedings for an offence by virtue of this Act-
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(a) may not be brought more than three years after the commission of the offence but, subject to that, |
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(b) may be brought within a period of six months from the date on which evidence sufficient in the opinion of the prosecutor to warrant the proceedings came to his knowledge. |
| Appeals. |
80. In section 94 of the Children Act 1989 (appeals under that Act), in subsections (1)(a) and (2), after "this Act" there is inserted "or the Adoption and Children Act 2001".
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| Proceedings to be in private. |
81. Proceedings under this Act-
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(a) in the High Court, may be disposed of in chambers, and |
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(b) in a county court, must be heard and determined in camera. |
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The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service |
| Officers of the Service. |
82. - (1) For the purposes of any relevant application, rules must provide for the appointment in prescribed cases of an officer of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service ("the Service")-
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(a) to act on behalf of the child upon the hearing of the application, with the duty of safeguarding the interests of the child in the prescribed manner, |
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(b) to witness documents which signify consent to placement or adoption, and |
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(c) to perform other prescribed duties. |
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(2) A person who-
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(a) in the case of an application for the making, varying or revocation of a placement order, is employed by the adoption agency which made the application, or |
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(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 which placed him, |
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is not to be appointed under subsection (1); but, subject to that, rules may provide for the appointment of the same person to act under both paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (1) for the purposes of a relevant application.
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(3) In this section, "relevant application" means an application for-
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(a) the making, varying or revocation of a placement order, |
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(b) the making of an adoption order, or |
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(c) the making of an order under section 71. |
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(4) Rules may make provision as to the assistance which the court may require an officer of the Service to give to it.
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| Right of officers of the Service to have access to adoption agency records. |
83. - (1) Where an officer of the Service has been appointed to act under section 82(1), he has the right at all reasonable times to examine and take copies of any 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.
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(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 evidence of any matter referred to in any-
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(a) report which he makes to the court in the proceedings in question, or |
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(b) evidence which he gives in those proceedings. |
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(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.
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