Adoption law and procedures

I refer to the editorial of August 16 titled Overdue Change For Adoption By Spouses, dealing with current issues concerning adoption legislation and procedures and in particular proposed changes in the law following a decision of the Constitutional Court which declared as unconstitutional the requirement that a married couple must have been married for a period of not less than three years and living together to be eligible to adopt. Aġenzija Appoġġ within the Foundation for Social Welfare Services would like to clarify a number of inconsistencies in the article and to declare its position on the matter.

Following the above-mentioned declaration, the Constitutional Court declared that the applicants, in that particular case, were to be considered as eligible to adopt. It is pertinent to note, however, that this revocation of the requirement by the Court in the case of those applicants cannot be applied automatically in the case of other applicants. In the absence of legislative amendment, in the case of all other applicants the agency is bound to apply the law as it stands, and it is therefore not the case that Appoġġ acted illegally in applying such provision of the law but rather, that the agency is following the parameters laid down by law.

As part of the agency’s obligations, when an application is received from prospective adoptive parents, applicants are made aware of the procedures and legal requirements to be followed, including the eligibility criteria established by the law currently in force.

On a factual note, contrary to what is stated in the editorial, couples are being allowed to follow and complete the adoption course. But they are all being duly informed that according to legislation in force they are still deemed ineligible to adopt and would be proceeding further with the risk of being considered ineligible once the whole process is completed and their application is assessed by other independent bodies.

The agency’s position in no way implies that it is not willing to uphold the Constitutional Court’s decision.

Given the state of affairs and the fact that a Bill has already been drawn up, the agency is proceeding with processing applications of couples who are ineligible under this criteria, provided such couples signify their consent to proceed and declare that they are aware of their ineligible status and of any potential consequences this may bring about.