[2016] KEHC 6842 (KLR)
The court found that Section 176 of the Children Act requires Kenyan courts to recognise adoption orders made by competent courts in foreign countries, including Ethiopia. The applicant provided authenticated documents evidencing the Ethiopian adoption order and demonstrated that all adoptors are Kenyan citizens....
Source-derived case information.
- Citation
- [2016] KEHC 6842 (KLR)
- Parties
- Applicant: B M M; Respondent: Attorney General (implied, not named)
- Court
- High Court
- Court Station
- High Court at Nairobi (Milimani Commercial Courts)
- Jurisdiction
- Kenya
- Case Number
- Adoption Cause 183 of 2015
- Procedural Posture
- Adoption Cause / Ruling on Originating Summons for Recognition of Foreign Adoption Order
- Outcome
- Application allowed. Ethiopian adoption order recognised and adopted as a judgment of the Kenyan court.
- Judges
- DN Musyoka
- Legal Topics
- Recognition of Foreign Adoption, Effect of Overseas Adoption Orders, Children Act Section 176
- Source Language
- en
Source-derived case record
Summary, issues, holding and outcome
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Parties
B M M
Applicant
Attorney General (implied, not named)
Respondent
Procedural Posture
Adoption Cause / Ruling on Originating Summons for Recognition of Foreign Adoption Order
Legal Issues
- 1 Whether the adoption order made by the Federal First Instance Court of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, should be recognised and adopted as an order of the Kenyan court.
- 2 Whether Section 176 of the Children Act permits recognition of an adoption order from Ethiopia.
Ratio Decidendi
The court found that Section 176 of the Children Act requires Kenyan courts to recognise adoption orders made by competent courts in foreign countries, including Ethiopia. The applicant provided authenticated documents evidencing the Ethiopian adoption order and demonstrated that all adoptors are Kenyan citizens. The court was satisfied that the requirements of Section 176 were met and that the Ethiopian court was competent. Therefore, the court granted the application and adopted the Ethiopian judgment as a judgment of the Kenyan court.
Court Disposition
Application allowed. Ethiopian adoption order recognised and adopted as a judgment of the Kenyan court.
Orders
- The judgment of the Federal First Instance Court of Addis Ababa in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia delivered on 10th March 2011 is adopted as a judgment of this court.
Full Case Text
Judgment text and source record
22 paragraphs
REPUBLIC OF KENYA
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KENYA AT NAIROBI
ADOPTION CAUSE NO. 183 OF 2015 (OS)
IN THE MATTER OF T A M M M (A MINOR)
AND
IN THE MATTER OF SECTION 176 OF THE CHILDREN’S ACT, NO. 8 OF 2001
RULING
1. The Originating Summons dated 17th July 2015 seeks one order, that the adoption order made by the Federal First Instance Court of Addis Ababa in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia on 10th March 2011 be made an order this court.
2. The applicant, B M M, is the adoptive father of the said T A M M M, hereinafter referred to as the subject child. He avers in his affidavit in support of the application, sworn on 17th July 2015, that he adopted the subject child from Ethiopia in 2010. He would like the adoption allowed by the Ethiopian court to be recognised by the Kenyan courts.
3. He has attached two documents to his said affidavit. There is a contract of adoption executed on 28th December 2010 between the applicant and his wife, S M M-M, on one part, and Ye Ethiopia Misgana Wongelawit Betechristian Yelimat Ena Yebego Adragot Dirijit, the orphanage caring and protecting the child prior to adoption, on the other. The said contract placed the child with the applicant and his wife for adoption purposes, subject to the said contract not taking effect until approved by the court. The other document is a judgement of the Federal First Instance Court of Addis Ababa, dated 10th March 2011, approving the contract of adoption dated 28th December 2010 and therefore permitting the adoption of the subject child by the applicant and his wife.
4. The application before me is premised on Section 176 of the Children Act. Section 176 of the Children Act dwells on the effect of overseas adoptions. It provides as follows:-
“176(1). Where a person has been adopted (whether before or after the commencement of this Act) in any place and the adoption is one to which this section applies, then, for the purposes of this Act and all other written laws, the adoption shall have the same effect as an adoption order validly made under this Act, and shall have no other effect.
(2) Subsection (1) shall apply to an adoption in any place outside Kenya, if-
(a) the adoption order was made by anycourt of law in the Commonwealth and any court of competent jurisdiction in any other country.
(b) …
(c) …
(3) An adoption order made overseas in favour of an adoptor who is resident in Kenya shall be lodged in the court within the period and in the manner specified in the rules made by the Chief Justice.”
5. The adoption order in question was made by a court of law in Ethiopia. I am enjoined by section 176 (2)(a) of the Children Act to recognise an adoption order made by any court of competent jurisdiction in any other country, in addition to a Commonwealth country. ‘Any other country’ includes Ethiopia. I have noted the endorsements on the certified copy of the judgement from the Ministry of Justice of Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs authenticating as a true judgement of a competent court in Ethiopia. I have further noted that all the adoptors are Kenyan citizens. I am persuaded that the prayer sought in the application is available for granting.
6. Consequently, I allow the application by way of the Originating Summons dated 17th July 2015 in its entirety, and hereby adopt the judgement of the Federal First Instance Court of Addis Ababa in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia delivered on 10th March 2011 as a judgement of this court.
DATED, SIGNED and DELIVERED at NAIROBI this 29TH DAY OF JANUARY, 2016.
W MUSYOKA
JUDGE