Re JSK & The Adoption Act 2000 [2006] NSWSC 1188

Re JSK & The Adoption Act 2000 [2006] NSWSC 1188

The natural parents' identities and whereabouts were not known, the child had been relinquished to ESWS for adoption, Korean procedures had conferred anonymity on the birth parents, further inquiry was not reasonable, and any inquiry by the applicants was unlikely to locate the parents; accordingly the parents could not after reasonable enquiry be found and it was in the child's interests to dispense with their consents and with notice. The proposed additional third forename preserved the child's Korean forenames and identity, reflected the child's adoptive Catholic and European/Australian cultural setting, produced no apparent detriment, and together those circumstances constituted...

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
10 November 2006
Procedural Posture
Adoption Application / In Chambers Judgment in the Equity Division, Adoptions List
Outcome
Adoption order and associated orders made.
Legal Topics
['inter Country Adoption' 'dispensing With Parental Consent' 'dispensing With Notice to Birth Parents' "approval of Child's Name" 'special Reasons for Change of Given Name']
['family Law' 'child Welfare' 'adoption Law'] ['inter Country Adoption' 'dispensing With Parental Consent' 'dispensing With Notice to Birth Parents' "approval of Child's Name" 'special Reasons for Change of Given Name']

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Procedural Posture

Adoption Application / In Chambers Judgment in the Equity Division, Adoptions List

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ["Whether the consents of the child's natural parents should be dispensed with because they cannot after reasonable inquiry be found or identified and because doing so is in the child's best interests." 'Whether notice of the adoption application should be dispensed with for the natural parents.' 'Whether there were special reasons, related to the best interests of the child, to approve the addition of a non-Korean third forename for a child more than one year old and a non-citizen child.' 'Whether certified copies of the orders should be released to DOCS for transmission to ESWS.']

Ratio Decidendi

The natural parents' identities and whereabouts were not known, the child had been relinquished to ESWS for adoption, Korean procedures had conferred anonymity on the birth parents, further inquiry was not reasonable, and any inquiry by the applicants was unlikely to locate the parents; accordingly the parents could not after reasonable enquiry be found and it was in the child's interests to dispense with their consents and with notice. The proposed additional third forename preserved the child's Korean forenames and identity, reflected the child's adoptive Catholic and European/Australian cultural setting, produced no apparent detriment, and together those circumstances constituted...

Court Disposition

Adoption order and associated orders made.

Orders

  • ['Order for adoption of the child in favour of the applicants.' "Order for approval of the child's name, including the additional third forename." "Order dispensing with the consents of the child's natural parents, and with the giving of notice of the application to the natural parents." 'Order releasing two...