Adoption (Scotland) Act 1978

Section 45.

SCHEDULE 1S Registration of Adoptions

Registration of adoption ordersS

1(1)Every adoption order shall contain a direction to the Registrar General for Scotland to make in the Adopted Children Register maintained by him an entry recording the adoption in such form as the Registrar General for Scotland may by regulations specify.

(2)The direction contained in a Convention adoption order in pursuance of this paragraph shall include an instruction that the entry made in that register in consequence of the order shall be marked with the words “Convention order”:.

(3)For the purposes of compliance with the requirements of sub-paragraph (1)—

(a)where the precise date of the child’s birth is not proved to the satisfaction of the court, the court shall determine the probable date of his birth and the date so determined shall be specified in the order as the date of his birth;

(b)where the country of birth of the child is not proved to the satisfaction of the court, then, if it appears probable that the child was born within the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, he shall be treated as having been born in Scotland, and in any other case the particulars of the country of birth may be omitted from the order and from the entry in the Adopted Children Register;

and the names to be specified in the order as the name and surname of the child shall be the name or names and surname stated in that behalf in the application for the adoption order, or, if no name or surname is so stated, the original name or names of the child and the surname of the applicant.

(4)There shall be produced with every application for an adoption order in respect of a child whose birth has been registered under the M1Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Scotland) Act 1965 or under any enactment repealed by that Act an extract of the entry of the birth.

(5)Where on an application to a court for an adoption order in respect of a child (not being a child who has previously been the subject of an adoption order made by a court in Scotland under this Act or any enactment at the time in force) there is proved to the satisfaction of the court the identity of the child with a child to whom an entry in the register of births relates, any adoption order made in pursuance of the application shall contain a direction to the Registrar General for Scotland to cause the entry in that register to be marked with the word “Adopted”:.

(6)Where an adoption order is made in respect of a child who has previously been the subject of an adoption order made by a court in Scotland under this Act or any enactment at the time in force, the order shall contain a direction to the Registrar General for Scotland to cause the previous entry in the Adopted Children Register to be marked with the word “Re-adopted”:.

(7)Where an adoption order is made, the clerk of the court which made the order shall cause the order to be communicated to the Registrar General for Scotland and upon receipt of the communication the Registrar General for Scotland shall cause compliance to be made with the directions contained in the order.

Registration of adoptions in England, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel IslandsS

2(1)Where the Registrar General for Scotland is notified by the Registrar General that an adoption order has been made by a court in England in respect of a child to whom an entry in the register of births or the Adopted Children Register relates, the Registrar General for Scotland shall cause the entry to be marked “Adopted (England)”: or, as the case may be, “Re-adopted (England)”:.S

(2)Where the Registrar General for Scotland is notified by the authority maintaining a register of adoptions in Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man or any of the Channel Islands that an order has been made in that country authorising the adoption of a child to whom an entry in the register of births or the Adopted Children Register relates, he shall cause the entry to be marked “Adopted”: or “Re-adopted”:, as the case may be, followed by the name in brackets of the country in which the order was made.

(3)Where, after an entry has been marked under the foregoing provisions of this paragraph, the Registrar General for Scotland is notified as aforesaid that the order has been quashed, that an appeal against the order has been allowed or that the order has been revoked, he shall cause the marking to be cancelled; and an extract of an entry in any register, being an entry the marking of which is cancelled under this sub-paragraph, shall be deemed to be accurate if and only if both the marking and the cancellation are omitted therefrom.

(4)The foregoing provisions of this paragraph shall apply in relation to orders corresponding to orders under section 49 as they apply in relation to orders authorising the adoption of a child; but any marking of an entry required by virtue of this sub-paragraph shall consist of the words “proposed foreign adoption”: or, as the case may require, “proposed foreign re-adoption”: followed by the name in brackets of the country in which the order was made.

Registration of overseas adoptionsS

3If the Registrar General for Scotland is satisfied that an entry in the register of births relates to a person adopted under an overseas adoption and that he has sufficient particulars relating to that person to enable an entry, in the form specified for the purposes of this paragraph in regulations made under paragraph 1(1), to be made in the Adopted Children Register in respect of that person, he shall—

(a)make such an entry in the Adopted Children Register; and

(b)if there is a previous entry in respect of that person in that register, mark the entry (or if there is more than one such entry the last of them) with the word “Re-adopted”: followed by the name in brackets of the country in which the adoption was effected; and

(c)unless the entry in the register of births is already marked with the word “Adopted”: (whether or not followed by other words), mark the entry with that word followed by the name in brackets of the country aforesaid.

Amendment of orders and rectification of registersS

4(1)The court by which an adoption order has been made may, on the application of the adopter or of the adopted person, amend the order by the correction of any error in the particulars contained therein, and may—

(a)if satisfied on the application of the adopter or the adopted person that within one year beginning with the date of the order any new name has been given to the adopted person (whether in baptism or otherwise), or taken by him, either in lieu of or in addition to a name specified in the particulars required to be entered in the Adopted Children Register in pursuance of the order, amend the order by substituting or adding that name in those particulars, as the case may require;

(b)if satisfied on the application of any person concerned that a direction for the marking of an entry in the register of births or the Adopted Children Register included in the order in pursuance of sub-paragraph (5) or (6) of paragraph 1 was wrongly so included, revoke that direction.

(2)Where an adoption order is amended or a direction revoked under sub-paragraph (1), the clerk of the court shall cause the amendment to be communicated in the prescribed manner to the Registrar General for Scotland who shall as the case may require—

(a)cause the entry in the Adopted Children Register to be amended accordingly; or

(b)cause the marking of the entry in the register of births or the Adopted Children Register to be cancelled.

(3)Where an adoption order is quashed or an appeal against an adoption order allowed by any court, the court shall give directions to the Registrar General for Scotland to cancel any entry in the Adopted Children Register, and any marking of an entry in that Register, or the register of births as the case may be, which was effected in pursuance of the order.

(4)If the Registrar General for Scotland is satisfied—

(a)that a Convention adoption order or an overseas adoption has ceased to have effect, whether on annulment or otherwise; or

(b)that any entry or mark was erroneously made in pursuance of paragraph 3 in any register mentioned in that paragraph, he may cause such alterations to be made in any such register as he considers are required in consequence of the cesser or to correct the error; and where an entry in such a register is amended in pursuance of this sub-paragraph, an extract of the entry shall be deemed to be accurate if and only if it shows the entry as amended but without indicating that it has been amended.

Marking of entries on re-registration of birthS

5SWithout prejudice to any other provision of this Act where, after an entry in the register of births has been marked in accordance with paragraph 2 or 3, the birth is re-registered under section 20(1) of the M2Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Scotland) Act 1965 (re-registration of birth in certain cases), the entry made on re-registration shall be marked in the like manner.

Cancellations in registers on legitimationS

6SWhere an adoption order is revoked under section 46(1) the clerk of the court shall cause the revocation to be communicated in the prescribed manner to the Registrar General for Scotland who shall cause to be cancelled—

(a)the entry in the Adopted Children Register relating to the adopted person; and

(b)the marking with the word “Adopted”: (or, as the case may be, with that word and the word “(England)”) of any entry relating to him in the register of births;

and an extract of an entry in any register, being an entry the marking of which is cancelled under this paragraph shall be deemed to be accurate if and only if both the marking and the cancellation are omitted therefrom.

7SIn this Schedule, “Registrar General” means the Registrar General for England and Wales.