[2018] KEHC 5857 (KLR)
The court found that the pleadings and supporting documents submitted by the applicant were inconsistent regarding the identity of the child sought to be adopted. The documents referred to different names (F, H C, and M), and it was not clear whether these names referred to the same individual. The court emphasized...
Source-derived case information.
- Citation
- [2018] KEHC 5857 (KLR)
- Parties
- Applicant: Applicant
- Court
- High Court
- Court Station
- High Court at Nairobi (Milimani Commercial Courts)
- Jurisdiction
- Kenya
- Case Number
- Adoption Cause 131 of 2017
- Procedural Posture
- Adoption Cause / Ruling on Sufficiency of Pleadings and Documentation
- Outcome
- Application not determined on merits; applicant directed to amend pleadings within sixty days to clarify child's identity, failing which the application stands dismissed.
- Judges
- DN Musyoka
- Legal Topics
- Adoption Procedure, Child Identity Verification, Pleadings and Documentation, Abandoned Children
- Source Language
- en
Source-derived case record
Summary, issues, holding and outcome
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Parties
Applicant
Applicant
Procedural Posture
Adoption Cause / Ruling on Sufficiency of Pleadings and Documentation
Legal Issues
- 1 Whether the identity of the child sought to be adopted is sufficiently established in the pleadings and supporting documents.
- 2 Whether the discrepancies in the names used in the documents and pleadings affect the validity of the adoption application.
Ratio Decidendi
The court found that the pleadings and supporting documents submitted by the applicant were inconsistent regarding the identity of the child sought to be adopted. The documents referred to different names (F, H C, and M), and it was not clear whether these names referred to the same individual. The court emphasized the importance of clear and consistent identification in adoption proceedings, particularly where a child has been abandoned and may have been assigned multiple names. The failure to reconcile these identities in the pleadings and documentation undermined the integrity of the adoption process. Consequently, the court required the applicant to amend the pleadings to address...
Court Disposition
Application not determined on merits; applicant directed to amend pleadings within sixty days to clarify child's identity, failing which the application stands dismissed.
Orders
- Applicant to amend pleadings within sixty (60) days to address discrepancies in the child's identity.
- If amendment is not made within sixty (60) days, the Originating Summons dated 7th September 2017 shall stand dismissed.
Full Case Text
Judgment text and source record
14 paragraphs
REPUBLIC OF KENYA
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KENYA AT NAIROBI
(FAMILY DIVISION)
ADOPTION CAUSE NO. 131 OF 2017
IN THE MATTER OF AN APPLICATION FOR ADOPTION OF BABY F
RULING
1. According to the pleadings herein the child sought to be adopted is identified as F.
2. I have carefully perused through the documents lodged herein by the adoption agency arranging this adoption, Kenya Children’s Homes, and noted that some of them refer to M and H C. The care agreement executed between the applicant and the T B H, approved by the Kenya Children’s Home, dated 24th May 2017 is in respect of a child known as F and also known as H C. Yet the letters from the police and the Alice Nursing Home refer to a child called M. The letters are dated 13th February 2015, 14th February 2015 and 16th September 2015. There is also the Child Health Card dated 5th December 2014.
3. This means that the pleadings are not in sync with the documents that the applicant has placed on record and which she would like the court to rely on to determine the matter. The documents appear to be referring to different persons. One of the persons referred to in the documents is not mentioned at all in the pleadings. There is no knowing whether the child referred to as M is the same as F and H C.
4. Identity is everything for human beings. The name assigned to any human being identifies him. If there are double or multiple identities then all must be used at the same time to demonstrate that they refer to the same person. indeed, in these cases where it is alleged that the child in question was found abandoned and was subsequently assigned several names, all those names give the child his identity and all of them must be used in the proceedings, until the court assigns a name to him at adoption, which name then finds its way into the state adoption records.
5. As it is, I am not satisfied as to the identity of the child in question, for the documents presented here to support the pleadings do not tally with the said pleadings. The applicant ought to amend her pleadings to remedy the situation. That should be done within sixty (60) days, failing which the Originating Summons dated 7th September 2017 shall stand dismissed, in which event the child shall be returned to the institution.
DATED, SIGNED and DELIVERED at NAIROBI this 14TH DAY OF JUNE, 2018.
W. MUSYOKA
JUDGE