[2014] KEHC 3323 (KLR)
The court found that the applicants fulfilled all statutory and procedural requirements for international adoption under Kenyan law. The child, having been abandoned at birth and unclaimed by biological parents, was legally available for adoption. The applicants were assessed and approved by both Kenyan and Italian...
Source-derived case information.
- Citation
- [2014] KEHC 3323 (KLR)
- Parties
- Applicant: F P; Applicant: E L; Respondent: Baby G N N alias M N
- Court
- High Court
- Court Station
- High Court at Nairobi (Milimani Commercial Courts)
- Jurisdiction
- Kenya
- Case Number
- Adoption Cause 116 of 2014
- Procedural Posture
- Adoption Cause / Judgment
- Outcome
- Adoption granted.
- Judges
- DN Musyoka
- Legal Topics
- International Adoption, Child Abandonment, Parental Rights, Legal Guardianship
- Source Language
- en
Source-derived case record
Summary, issues, holding and outcome
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Parties
F P
Applicant
E L
Applicant
Baby G N N alias M N
Respondent
Procedural Posture
Adoption Cause / Judgment
Legal Issues
- 1 Whether the applicants meet the legal requirements for international adoption under Kenyan law.
- 2 Whether the adoption is in the best interests of the child.
- 3 Whether the child is entitled to Kenyan citizenship and associated rights.
Ratio Decidendi
The court found that the applicants fulfilled all statutory and procedural requirements for international adoption under Kenyan law. The child, having been abandoned at birth and unclaimed by biological parents, was legally available for adoption. The applicants were assessed and approved by both Kenyan and Italian authorities, and the adoption was recognized as valid in Italy. All reports from the adoption society, guardian ad litem, and Director of Children’s Services were favorable, confirming the applicants' suitability and the child's best interests. The court determined that granting the adoption would provide the child with a stable family environment and secure his welfare, and...
Court Disposition
Adoption granted.
Orders
- The applicants, F P and E L, are allowed to adopt the child, Baby G N N alias M N, who shall hereafter be known as M P.
- T P and B B are appointed legal guardians of the child in the event of misfortune befalling the applicants.
Full Case Text
Judgment text and source record
23 paragraphs
REPUBLIC OF KENYA
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KENYA AT NAIROBI
ADOPTION CAUSE NO. 116 OF 2014 (OS)
AND
IN THE MATTER OF THE CHILDREN’S ACT
(NO. 8 OF 2001)
AND
IN THE MATTER OF BABY G N alias M N
JUDGEMENT
The applicants, F P and E L, are a married couple from Italy. They have brought an Originating Summons dated 29th April 2014 seeking leave to adopt a Kenyan child called Baby G N N alias M N.
Baby G N N alias M N, the subject of these adoption proceedings, was born at the Nyeri Provincial Hospital on 5th November 2011 and was abandoned by his mother the same day at the hospital. The matter was reported at the Nyeri Police Station on 7th November 2011. The subject child was admitted at the Nest Children’s Home for care and protection, and later transferred to the Hope House Babies Centre, where he was later committed by the local Children’s Court. It is from the institution that he was placed with the applicants on 28th January 2014 for adoption purposes. His parents have not been traced to date
There is sufficient documentation which supports this background, prepared by and filed in court on 5th May 2014 by the Kenya Children’s Homes adoption society and contained in a report dated 3rd October 2013. The Kenya Children’s Homes freed the child for adoption purposes and there is a certificate to that effect filed in court dated 3rd October 2013.
To facilitate the adoption the applicant has been assessed by the Kenya Children’s Homes, the guardian ad litem, L K, and the Director of Children’s Services, who have compiled and filed their reports in court. The report of the Director of Children’s Services is dated 24th June 2014, while that of the guardian ad litem is undated. The report by the Kenya Children’s Homes is dated 2nd May 2014. There is also a psycho-social report by the Local Health Authority of Collegno and Pinerolo, dated 9th September 2010. All these reports are favourable and recommend the proposed adoption.
The applicants have demonstrated that they have the financial and emotional capability and capacity to take care of the child. The child also appears to have bonded well with the applicants and considers them to be his parents.
This proposed adoption has been approved by the Children’s Court of Piedmont and Valle D’Aosta in accordance with the Italian law. The court issued a decree to international adoption dated 19th January 2011. The proposed adoption also received the approval of the National Adoption Committee of Kenya on 9th July 2013, confirmed by a certificate dated 18th September 2013.
I have also seen the confirmation from the Amici dei Bambini, an Italian based foreign adoption society, dated 5th March 2012, to the effect that a Kenyan adoption order would be received and recognised in Italy and a child so adopted will gain resident status. The Amici dei Bambini has also given the assurance that it would ensure that the child will be protected in the event that something happened to the adoptive parents.
In the opinion of this court it would be in the interests of the child that the child is adopted by the applicants. The applicants will be able to provide a home and a family for the child to grow up in and thereafter be a useful member of the family. Consequently, the applicants shall assume all parental rights and duties of the biological parents in respect of the adopted child; they shall treat the adopted child as if he was born to them. The applicants have been made aware that once the adoption order is made it shall be final and binding during the lifetime of the child and that the child shall have the right to inherit their property. The applicants cannot give up the child owing to any subsequent unforeseen behaviour or other changes in the child.
I am satisfied that all the legal requirements for an international adoption have been met. The applicants, F P and E L, are hereby allowed to adopt the child, Baby G N N alias M N, who shall be hereafter known as M P. T P and B B are hereby appointed the legal guardians of the child in the event of misfortune befalling the applicants. The Registrar-General is directed to enter this adoption order in the adoption register. The guardian ad litemis hereby discharged.
The child is hereby declared to be Kenyan by birth having been born to a known Kenyan mother who abandoned her in a hospital, and therefore she is entitled to all the rights that accrue to Kenyan citizens under the Constitution of Kenya 2010 and the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act.
DATED, SIGNED and DELIVERED at NAIROBI this 14th DAY OF August, 2014.
W. MUSYOKA
JUDGE
In the presence of Mr. Mwenda advocate for the applicants.