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English and Scottish adoption orders and British parental orders after surrogacy: welfare, competence and judicial legislation
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Kenneth McK Norrie
The full version of this article will appear in Child and Family Law Quarterly, Vol 29, No 2. Find out more or request a free 1-week trial of Child and Family Law Quarterly. Please quote: 100482.
This article seeks to explore two questions. First, given that the legal effects of an adoption order and a parental order made under section 54 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 are virtually identical, while the statutory conditions for each are different, would the granting of one in circumstances designed for the other create any genuine problem and do the differences in aims justify the different conditions for each order? Secondly, when is it right for the court to override statutory conditions on the ground that the welfare of the child requires the order to be made? Does welfare ‘trump’ all or only some conditions, and if only some then how do we distinguish between competency determining conditions and those subject to welfare considerations?
Read the full article here.