An independent voice for ethical adoption
Romanian draft of law
The following is a DRAFT of the law currently under consideration by the Romanian Parliament. This draft was provided to Ethica by Romanian officials on 04/02/03. This draft has NOT yet been approved by the Parliament.
THE ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT
THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES THE SENATE
LAW
regarding the legal framework of adoption
The Romanian Parliament approves the following law:
CHAPTER I
General provisions
Art. 1 – Adoption is a measure of special protection for the child that permanently lacks his/her family environment or, in his/her best interest, can not be preserved in the respective environment.
Art. 2. – The legal entities of public or private law that intervene along any stage of the adoption process have the obligation to abide by the following principles:
a) the principle of the child’s best interest;
b) the principle of raising and educating the child in a family environment;
c) the principle of continuity in the child’s education, taking into consideration his/her ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic background;
d) the principle of informing the child according to his/her age and level of understanding;
e) the principle of subsidiarity of inter-country adoption as alternative means to provide child care, if the child cannot be entrusted for either placement with the extended or substitute family or for adoption or cannot be appropriately looked after in Romania
f) the principle of celerity in carrying out any act regarding adoption procedure.
Art. 3. – In the sense of the present law, terms and phrases below have the following meaning:
a) adoptee – the person to be or has been adopted under the provisions of the present law;
b) adopter – the person willing to adopt or, as the case may be, has adopted under the provisions of the present law;
c) in-country adoption – adoption in which the adopter or adoptive family resides in Romania
d) inter-country adoption – any adoption which, under the provisions of the present law, is not considered internal;
e) certificate – the document issued under the provisions of the present law, proving aptness to adopt as resulting from meeting moral requirements and material means necessary for a full and harmonious development of the child’s personality;
f) the Hague Convention – the Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of Inter-country Adoption drawn in the Hague on May 23rd 1993 and ratified by Romania through Law no. 84/1994, published in the Monitorul Oficial, Part I, no. 298 of October 21st, 1994;
g) child – the person under the age of 18 who has not yet become legally emancipated under the provisions of the law;
h) the Directorate – the Directorate for Child Protection and Special Assistance, a public institution with legal personality created under the subordination of the county council, Bucharest district council, respectively, under the provisions of the present law;
i) adoptive family – two persons united in marriage living in the same residence that are willing to adopt or, as the case may be, have adopted, under the provisions of the present law.
j) family – family made up of biological parents and children in their care
k) extended family – the child together with his/her biological parents and relatives up to the fourth degree of kinship
l) substitute family – persons other than the extended family who, under the provisions of the law, provide child upbringing and care, the professional foster carer included;
m) Office –central public administration specialised body with legal personality under Government subordination created by the re-organisation of the Romanian Committee for Adoptions with attributes in the supervision and co-ordination of action with envisaging the protection of child’s rights through adoption;
n) biological parent – the person the child has natural filiation to as established under the provisions of the law;
o) individualised protection plan – administrative paper issued to the purpose of establishing child special protection measures by the Directorate in child’s area of residence, under the provisions of the law
p) host state – in the case of inter-country adoption, the adopter’s or adoptive family’s state of residence the adoptee moves following adoption approval.
Art.4. – All along the adoption process, the Directorate in the area where the child resides, has the obligation to provide the child with clear information and explanations, suitable to his/her age and level of maturity, regarding the stages and duration of the adoption process, its effects, as well as the adopter or adoptive family and their relatives.
CHAPTER II
Basic requirements for adoption
Art. 5. – (1) Adoption shall be performed only if in the best interest of the child.
(2) The child can be adopted up to the age of legal emancipation.
(3) The legally emancipated person can be adopted only if the adopter or adoptive family have raised him/her while underage.
(4) By derogation of arti. 1 provisions in the present law, the child can be adopted by the spouse of his/her parent.
Art. 6. – (1) In the adoption process, necessary measures shall be taken so that siblings are placed together.
(2) The separate entrusting of siblings prior to the adoption, as well as their adoption by different parents or families may be done only if this is in their best interest.
Art. 7. – (1) The child can be adopted by a single person, or, either simultaneously or successively, by two individuals united in marriage and living in the same residence.
(
2) In case the adopter or adoptive spouses have deceased, a new adoption can be approved under the provisions of the present law. Previous adoption is considered terminated on the date when the court decision approving the new adoption is declared irrevocable.
Art. 8. – (1) Adoption of the child by his/her biological parent as well as adoption between siblings are forbidden.
(2) Adoption of two present or former spouses by the same adopter or adoptive family as well as adoption between present or former spouses are forbidden.
Art. 9. – (1) Only individuals that can exercise their full legal rights and are at least 18 years older than the one they wish to adopt
(2) For justified reasons, a court of law may approve the adoption even if the age difference between the adoptee and adopters is less than the18 years.
Art. 10. – (1) Adopter or adoptive family must meet the moral requirements and have the necessary means for a full and harmonious development of the child’s personality.
(2) The fulfillment of the requirements and conditions stipulated in par. (1) shall be certified by the competent authorities, according to the provisions of this law.
Art. 11. – (1) Persons called on to consent to adoption are as follows:
a) biological parents;
b) the child over the age of 10;
c) the adopter or, as the case may be, the adoptive family.
(2) Consent to adoption cannot be obtained through counter-payment or any kind of counter-service.
Art.12. – (1) The consent for adoption shall be givenby the biological parents of the child.
(2) Should one of the child’s parents be deceased, unknown, declared dead or missing under the provisions of the law, prohibited from exercising certain civil rights, declared unfit or, because of any circumstance arisen, incapacitated and unable to exercise his/her free will, the consent of the other parent is considered sufficient.
(3) The consent of the child’s both parents is not necessary should both fall under any situation stipulated under par. (2) and as well in case of adoption mentioned in art. 5 para.3 of the present law.
Art.13. – Should the biological parent be proven by any probation means to have abusively or in ill will refused to consent to adoption, the court can exceptionally rule out parents’ refusal to consent to the adoption of the child looked after, according to law, by a natural or legal person.
Art.14. – (1) The child’s biological parents must give freely their consent for the adoption, unconditionally and only following appropriate information on the consequences of expressing consent, mainly on the cessation, as result of approval of adoption, of kin relationships with the child. The Directorate responsible for the area where the parents reside must provide for their counselling and information before they give their consent for the adoption.
(2) The consent of the child’s parents to adoption must be duly certified. The certified statement of consent for the adoption must specify if the parent has been informed and counselled under the terms stipulated in par. (1) and will specify that the consenting parent has been informed about the term for consent withdrawal.
Art.15. – (1) The biological parents’ consent for the adoption can not be given prior to at least 60 days after the child’s date of birth, appearing in his/her birth certificate.
(2) The parent can withdraw his/her consent within 45 days of the date of the duly certified statement in which it was given. The withdrawal declaration is either personally performed in writing in the presence of a civil servant working for the Directorate of parents’ area of residence, who writes a minutes in that respect or given as an authentic form, immediately transmitted by the notary public or civil servant, as the case may be, to the competent Directorate, by registered letter with written confirmation of receipt.
Art. 16. – (1) Consent to adoption of children over 10 years of age will be requested in court, during approval of adoption stage.
(2) Prior to the expression of consent, The Directorate of child’s area of residence shall advise and inform the child taking into account his/her age and maturity, emphasising the consequences of adoption and of consent to adoption.
Art. 17. – (1) The consent of the adopter or adoptive family shall be required by the court upon ruling on the petition to grant the adoption.
(2) If the person wanting to adopt is married, the spouse’s consent is also necessary, except in cases when the latter is incapacitated and unable to express his/her will. Paragraph (1) provisions are correspondingly applied.
CHAPTER III
Procedure for in-country adoptions
Section 1
Certification of adopter or adoptive family
Art.18. – (1) The evaluation of moral requirements and financial status that the adoptive parent/family must meet shall be done upon request, by the Directorate in their area, and shall take into consideration:
a) the personality, medical situation and financial status of the adopter or adoptive family, family life, living conditions and capacity for educating the child;
b) the reasons for which the adopter or adoptive family wants to adopt the child;
c) the reasons for which, in case just one of the spouses petitions for the adoption, the other spouse did not join in the request;
d) impediments of any nature that may be relevant for the capacity to adopt;
e) the religion of the adoptive parent/family.
(2) Based on the results of the evaluation stipulated in par.(1), the Directorate in the area where the adopter or adoptive family resides shall decide, within 3 months of the filing of the petition by the adopter or adoptive family, if he/she/they are or are not able to adopt. In case of a favorable evaluation result, within five days the Directorate shall issue the certificate (attestation) as person or family able to adopt.
(3) The certificate issued by the Directorate in the area where the adopter or adoptive family resides is valid for a period of one year. The validity of this certificate can be extended annually provided the same conditions mentioned in par.(1) are met, following the adopter’s or adoptive family’s application for renewal.
Art. 19. – Acquiring the certificate is not necessary in the following circumstances:
a) for adoption as specified under Art. 5 par. (3);
b) for adoption as specified under Art. 5 par. (4);
c) the child has been placed with the adopter or adoptive family and the placement measure has been in force for at least three months.
Art. 20. After the certificate is issued, the Directorate in the adopter’s or adoptive family’s area of residence has the obligation to provide them counselling services necessary so that the parenting role shall be assumed properly and in full knowledge.
Section 2
Finding child adoptability
Art. 21.- (1) The individualized protection plan for the child can have in-country adoption as an outcome after the Directorate in the child’s area of the residence has undertaken endeavours to maintain or reintegrate the child in his/her family , and if the evaluation of the child’s specific needs demands that such a measure be taken.
(2) Within 30 days of concluding the endeavors stipulated in par.(1), the Directorate in the child’s area of the residence shall notify the court of law in the area of the child’s residence, in order for a finding to be issued on the respective child’s adoptability.
Art. 22. – (1) The petition for the finding of the adoptability of the child shall be admitted by the court only if:
a) the individualised protection plan determines the necessary character of the adoption
b) the child’s parents have given their consent for the adoption under the provisions of the present law, on condition of the application of art. 12 par. (2) or par. (3) or art. 13 provisions
(2) Once the finding of the court regarding the adoptability of the child remains irrevocable, the following effects can be occur:
a) the child is considered adoptable
b) biological parents’ parental rights and duties are terminated;
c) parental rights and duties are exercised by the county council, or, as the case may be, by the local county of Bucharest districts in the child’s area of residence.
Art. 23. – Provisions of the present section are not applicable in the case of adoptions specified under art. 5 par. (3) and (4).
Section 3
Entrusting in view of adoption
Art.24. – (1) The entrusting for care of the child prior to the adoption represents a mandatory preliminary stage for the grant of the adoption, whose purpose is to test the child’s capacity to adapt to the family environment where he would live in case the adoption is approved.
(2) The child’s capacity to adapt physically and mentally shall be analyzed taking into consideration the socio-professional, economic, cultural, linguistic, religious conditions, as well as any other such elements characteristic to the place where the child lives during the entrusting for care, that might be relevant in assessing the child’s later evolution in case adoption is granted.
Art.25. – (1) Within 30 days of the definitive and irrevocable decision regarding the adoptability of the child, the Directorate in the child’s area of residence carries out necessary endeavours to identify the most suitable adopter or adoptive family for the child.
(2) The Directorate in the child’s area of residence shall give priority to analysing the possibility of entrusting the child for care to a relative in the extended family to the professional foster carer looking after the child, or other person/ or family with whom the child has been placed.
(3) If there are no petitions from the individual or families identified in par.(2), the Directorate in the child’s area of residence shall endeavour to identify a certified individual or family that is registered with the Office.
(4) If the time period stipulated in par.(1) has expired and the Directorate in the child’s area of residence has not identified an adoptive individual or family, it shall require the Office that, within 5 days, it recommend a number of at least 5 adopters or adoptive families recorded. The Office shall make this recommendation taking into account the information on the adoptable child conveyed by the Directorate in the child’s area of residence, in agreement with present law provisions.
(5) If, within 15 days of receiving the recommendation, none of the individuals or families recommended is deemed suitable for the child, the Directorate in the child’s area of residence shall require the Office to recommend another group made up of 5 individuals or families from its records.
(6) The procedure described in par.(4) and (5) may be repeated at the request of the Directorate, but for no longer than 60 days from the date of the first solicitation addressed to the Office.
(7) Choice of the adopter or adoptive family suitable for the child is performed by the Directorate in the child’s area of residence taking into account his/her best interest, information included in the respective adopter’s certificate as well as the child’s evolution prior to that date.
Art. 26. – (1) The Directorate responsible for the area where the child resides shall verify and ascertain his/her compatibility with the adopter or adoptive family.
(2) The assessment of compatibility shall be done taking into consideration the child’s needs, wishes and opinions he/she has expressed mainly with regard to his/her feelings for the proposed adoption. The child’s best interest must be given the highest priority.
(3) In case that, as result of the verification stipulated in par. (1) and (2), the Directorate in the child’s area of residence ascertains the compatibility of the child with an individual or family wanting to adopt, it shall notify the court at once.
Art. 27. – (1) Entrusting the child for adoption shall be decided by the competent court of law in the child’s area of residence for a period of at least three months but no longer than 18 months.
(2) Petition for adoption granting, addressed to the court by the adopter or, as the case may be, by the adoptive family, rightfully extends the entrusting period until the resolution of the application through irrevocable court decision.
Art. 28. – (1) – Entrusting the child prior to the adoption is not necessary under the following circumstances
a) for adoption as specified under Art. 5 par. (3);
b) for adoption as specified under Art. 5 par. (4);
c) the child has been placed with the adopter or adoptive family and the placement measure has been in force for at least three months.
(2) In any such circumstance the individual or family willing to adopt will be able to directly request the court to grant the adoption, under the provisions of the present law.
Art. 29. – (1) During the entrusting of the child prior to the adoption, the child’s legal residence shall be at the residence of the person or family to whom he was entrusted. The exercise of parental rights and performing obligations regarding the child shall be undertaken by the person or family to whom the child has been entrusted.
(2) The right to act as representative of the child in legal acts or, as the case may be, to approve papers the child draws as well as the right to manage and administer the personal property of the child shall be exercised by the county council or by Bucharest sector local council where the person or family to whom the child has been entrusted resides. The right to manage and administer may be exceptionally delegated to the person or family the child has been entrusted to for the performance of special acts, in the best interest of the child, to be expressly mentioned in the content of the document performing the delegation.
Art. 30. – (1) During the time period the child is entrusted for care prior to the adoption, the Directorate in the area where the adopter adoptive family resides shall follow the evolution of the child and of his/her relationship with the person or family to whom he was entrusted, and shall write bimonthly reports.
(2) At the end of the time period for which the child was entrusted, the Directorate shall write a final report regarding the evolution of the relationship between the child and the adopters, which it shall communicate to the competent court in order for the petition for the approval of the adoption to be decided upon.
Art. 31. – (1) If, during entrustment for adoption period, the Directorate in the adopter’s or adoptive family’s area of residence ascertains that maintaining the measure is no more to the child’s best interest, it shall immediately notify the court be granted a decision on the cancellation of the entrusting measure.
(2) Provisions regarding the trial procedure for petitions for entrustment are also appropriately applied in the case of petitions concerning the entrusting measure cancellation. The decision by which the court rules on the cancellation of entrustment is rightfully executory.
Section 4
Adoption approval
Art. 32. – (1) The approval of an adoption falls under the competence of the legal courts.
(2) The petition for the approval of the adoption can be filed by the following individuals, as the case may be:
a) the adopter or adoptive family the child has been entrusted the end of the entrusting period to for adoption, according to Section 3 provisions in the present Chapter;
b) the spouse of the parent whose child is petitioned for adoption;
c) the person or family that has raised the adoptee while underage;
d) the person or family the adoptee has been entrusted to, following a term of at least three months since the measure has been adopted.
(3) Petition for the approval of the adoption shall be accompanied by the following papers:
a) a notarized copy of the child’s birth certificate;
b) the child’s health certificate issued by the family doctor (GP) with whom the child is registered;
c) the valid certificate of the adopter or adoptive family;
d) the irrevocable court decision regarding the entrusting of the child for care prior to the adoption;
e) notarized copies of the birth certificates of the adoptive parent or those of the spouses in the adoptive family;
f) notarized copy of the marriage license of the adopter or adoptive family, except in cases when the adopter is not married;
g) a copy of the adopter’s criminal record, or, as the case may be, of each adoptive family member;
h) the adopter’s health certificate issued by the family doctor with whom he/she is registered;
i) legal documents regarding the expression of biological parents’ consent, to the extent no previous court decision has been issued on ascertaining child’s adoptability as well as provided the application of art. 12 par. (2) or par. (3) or art. 13 in the present law.
Art. 33. – The Directorate in the adopter’s or adoptive family’s area of residence shall have the obligation to submit the final report elaborated at the end of the entrustment for adoption period as late as 5 days prior to the term it has been summoned for cause resolution as well as, as the case may be, to provide the court with any information necessary for the resolution of the petition for adoption approval.
Art. 34. – (1) The law court shall admit the petition for adoption approval only in case that, based on proof, it is convinced that adoption is performed to the child’s best interest.
(2) Within 5 days of the decision approving adoption has been declared irrevocable, the Directorate that has taken part in the trial of the petition for adoption approval shall notify biological parents thereof.
Section 5
Joint procedure provisions
Art. 35. – (1) Petitions for finding the adoptability of the child, the petitions for the entrusting of the child for care prior to adoption, and petitions for the approval of adoption shall be heard initially in the court of law in the area where the child resides, according to regulations provided in Book III – “Provisions concerning Non-Administrative Procedures” of the Civil procedure Code, with exceptions provided in the present law.
(2) Those cases for which a jurisdiction can not be established according to par.(1), shall be heard by the Bucharest Tribunal.
(3) Decisions regarding the petitions specified in par.(1) are not subject to appeal. Exercise of the appeal suspends execution.
Art. 36. – Petitions provided for under art. 35 par. (1) in the present law are exempt from paying the judicial stamp tax and shall be judged with celerity.
Art..37. – (1) Petitions provided for under art. 35 par. (1) in the present law shall be judged in the tribunal’s council room, with the prosecutor’s mandatory participation. by two specially assigned judges according to regulations set by Order of the Ministry of Justice. The Directorate must present it’s social inquiry report on the child.
(2) Petitions a finding regarding the adoptability of the child, shall be judged summoning the child’s biological parents and the Directorate in the child’s area of residence .
(3) Petitions for the entrusting of the child for care prior to the adoption, as well as those for the approval of the adoption shall be judged summoning the Directorate in the child’s area of residence, the Directorate in the adopter’s or adoptive family’s area of residence and the individual or adoptive family to appear in court. Biological parents shall be summoned to the trial of the petition concerning the approval of the adoption only to inasmuch no previous decision has been issued to find child adoptability.
(4) The court may admit any evidence that is in accordance with the law.
(5) On judging the petition for finding child adoptability as well as those concerning entrustment for adoption, it is mandatory to hear the child over 10 years of age; for the grant of adoption, the child’s over 10 years of age consent shall be required by the court.
Art. 38. – (1) The Directorate responsible for the child shall observe and file trimestrial reports regarding the evolution of the child and of his/her relationship with the adoptive parents, for a period of at least two years after the approval of the adoption.
(2) The Directorate responsible for the child has the obligation to provide the adoptive parents post-adoption services.
Art. 39. – (1) To the purpose of Office devising and organising records in adoption matters, the Directorate in the child’s area of residence shall convey the Office copies of the following documents:
a) court decision concerning ascertaining child adoptability;
b) court decision concerning entrustment in care prior to adoption;
c) court decision concerning the approval of adoption;
d) certificate issued according to art. 18 par.(2).
(2) The documents provided for under par.(1) shall be tranmited to the Office in up to 5 days from the date when the court decisions were declared irevocable or, in up to 5 days from the issuing date of the certificate, respectively.
(3) Documents provided for under par. (1) letters a) and d) shall be accompanied by all information regarding the adoptable child and persons or families the certificate has been issued for, respectively.
CHAPTER IV
Procedure for inter-country adoptions
Art. 40. – (1) Petitions for inter-country adoption shall be judged in agreement with present chapter provisions.
(2) Inter-country adoption is allowed only of children resident in units for child special protection organised and functioning according to law in the structure of the Directorate, if endeavours for child placement into the extended or substitute family or, as the case may be, for child entrustment in care prior to in-country adoption have failed and if the child’s best interest requests this measure be taken.
(3) To the understanding of this law, an international adoption has the effects specified in art. 56 and requires the relocation of the child to the territory of the host state, subsequent to the approval of the adoption by the Romanian court of law.
Art. 41. – (1) The petitions of the persons or families residing in another country and wanting to adopt a child from Romania are forwarded to the Office by their country’s competent central authority or accredited organizations.
(2) In the case of host countries that are not signatories of the Hague Convention, their accredited organizations must also be authorized by the Office, in accordance with the standards issued by the National Authority for the Protection of Children’s Rights and approved by Government decision, within 60 days of the date this law comes into effect.
Art. 42. – The petition of the adopter or adoptive family shall be registered with the Office only if the competent central authority in the host state or its accredited or authorized organizations are able to attest that:
(a) the adopter or adoptive family meets the eligibility requirements for adoption and are capable of adopting in accordance with the adoption legislation applicable in the host state ;
(b) the adopter or adoptive family has received the necessary counseling for the adoption in the host state;
(c) the host state provides post-adoption services for the child and the family.
Art. 43. – (1) The petitions sent to the Office shall be accompanied by the following documents:
(a) a report elaborated by competent authorities in the host state containing information regarding the identity of the persons wanting to adopt, their capacity and ability to adopt, their personal, family, material and medical situations, their social environment, the reason for which they want to adopt a child from Romania, as well as information regarding the children they would be shalling to adopt; the conclusions of the report shall be substantiated with legal documents issued by the competent authorities in the host state;
(b) notarized copies of the birth certificates and marriage license as well as identity papers of the persons wanting to adopt;
(c) the criminal records of the persons wanting to adopt;
(d) a full medical report of each adopter;
(e) the document issued by competent authorities or accredited or authorised organisations in the host country guaranteeing that the adoptee may enter and become a permanent resident of the host country and that the evolution of the child may be followed by competent Romanian authorities for at least two years after the adoption;
(2) The documents stipulated in par.(1) let. a), c), d) and e) shall be presented in original and shall be accompanied by a notarized translation into Romanian.
Art. 44. – (1) If, after the expiration of the time limits stipulated in art. 25 conditions are met as provided for in art. 40 par. (2), the Directorate in the the child’s area of residence it can petition the competent court to ascertain the adoptibility of the child according to the procedure for international adoptions.
(2) In the case of judgment of petitions whose object is finding child adoptability according to international adoption procedures, stipulations under section 5 in chapter 3 of the present law are applied correspondingly. The child’s parents shall not be summoned to appear in court.
Art. 45. – Based on the irrevocable court decision ascertaining the adoptability of the child according to international adoption procedures, within 5 days, the Directorate in the child’s area of residence shall require the Office to recommend foreign-resident persons or families who are wanting to adopt. The court decision shall be accompanied by a report elaborated by the the Directorate in the child’s area of residence comprising all the relevant data and information regarding the child as well as any other elements of possible relevance to the compatibilty of child and the recommended adopter or adoptive family.
Art. 46. – (1) At the request of the Directorate in the child’s area of residence, the Office shall recommend, within 15 days, at least 5 persons or families wanting to adopt that are in its records.
(2) The recommendation of these persons or families shall take into consideration the age, gender and education of the child, his/her ethnic, religious and cultural background, as well as any other elements relevant to the compatibility between the child and the recommended person/family.
Art. 47. – Within 30 day of receiving the recommendation stipulated in art.42, the Directorate in the child’s area of residence shall select the person or family suitable for the child, and shall communicate the Office about its choice .
Art. 48. – The Office shall notify the competent central authorities or the accredited or authorized organizations of the host country about the selection of the adopter or adoptive family, within five days of receiving the notice from the Directorate.
Art. 49. – At the same time of delivering the notice stipulated in art. 48, the Office shall require the competent central authority or the accredited or authorized organization of the country receiving the child, to communicate the following:
a) the agreement of the adopter or adoptive family with the selection specified in art. 47;
b) the agreement for the adoption procedure to be continued.
Art. 50. – Within 5 days of receiving the agreements stipulated in art.45, the Office shall notify the competent Directorate of the fact that the selected person or family agreed with the continuation of the adoption procedure.
Art. 51. – (1) The selected person/family has the obligation to come to Romania for an accommodation period of minimum 15 consecutive days exclusively used to establish personal bonds with the child.
(2) The Directorate in the child’s area of residence shall write reports describing the way in which the contact between the child and the selected person or family went and its results.
(3) If, after the accommodation period, the person or family, as well as the child that is to be adopted if older than 10, agree to continue the adoption procedure, the Directorate in the child’s area of residence shall notify the court soliciting the approval of the adoption.
(4) The provisions of Section 5 in chapter 3 shall be applied accordingly.
Art. 52. – The Office shall issue a certificate attesting that the adoption is in accordance with the standards required by the Hague Convention, which it shall forward to the Directorate with a view of its submission by the Directorate to the competent court.
Art. 53. – (1) The petition for the approval of the adoption must be accompanied by the documents stipulated in art. 41-43, art. 45, art. 47, art. 51 par. (2) and art. 52 in the present law.
(2) The court shall decide on the petition for the approval of the adoption, making sure that the adoptee shall benefit, in his/her country of adoption, from guarantees and norms equivalent to those required in an in-country adoption.
Art. 54. – (1) The Office shall take all necessary measures required in the provisions of the Hague Convention in order to prevent illicit benefits, financial or of any other nature, that could be gained through an adoption, and to discourage any practices contrary to the objectives of this Convention.
(2) The Office shall determine a unique, fixed fee based on an estimate of the maximum costs entailed by all services due to accomplish international adoption procedures.
(3) The fee shall be broken down by category of expenses and shall be approved by Government decision.
(4) The payment of the fee shall be done by the adopter or adoptive family by means of bank transfer to the Office and the central authority or the accredited or authorized organization from the adoptive parents’ country of residence. The fees charged by the Office become revenue for the state budget within five days of their collection.
Art. 55 . – (1) The Office has the obligation to follow the evolution of the child and of his/her relationship with the adoptive parent(s) for at least two years after the approval of the adoption, through the competent central authority or the accredited/ or authorized organization from the adoptive parents’ country of residence.
(2) In order to fulfill the obligation stipulated in par.(1), the Office must solicit trimestrial reports from the competent central authority or from the accredited/ or authorized organization from the country receiving the child.
CHAPTER V
Effects of the adoption
Art. 56. – (1) The adoption shall cause effects only after the court decision approving it was declared irrevocable.
(2) Through adoption, filiation between the adoptee and the adopter shall be established, as well as relationship of kin between the adoptee and his/her descendants, on one hand, and the adopter’s relatives on the other hand.
3) At the time of establishing the filiation through adoption, the natural kinship between the adoptee and his/her descendants, on one hand and his/her biological parents and their relatives, on the other hand, ceases, except in cases provided for under art. 5 par. (4) in the present law, in which case the cessation of kinship is only applied in relationship to the biological parent and biological parent’s relatives that is not married to the adopter.
(4) The marriage impediment resulting from kinship is applied according to law between the adoptee and his/her descendants, on one hand, and his/her relatives, on the other hand, as well as between the adoptee and his/her descendants, on the one hand, and the persons the child has become related to in effect of adoption, on the other hand.
Art. 57. – (1) The adopter shall assume the same parental rights and obligations that a biological parent would have.
(2) In the case of the adoptive parent being the spouse of the child’s biological parent, the parental rights and obligations shall be exercised by both the adoptive parent and the biological parent.
(3) The adoptee’s rights and obligations of any kind to the adopter are the same as those of person to his/her biological parents
Art.58. – (1) Adopters have the obligation to inform the child about being adopted, as soon as the child’s age and degree of maturity allow.
(2) Adopters and the adoptee have the right to acquire from competent authorities extracts from public records whose content attest the fact, date and place of birth but do not expressly reveal either the adoption or the identity of biological parents.
(3) The identity of the adoptee’s biological parents shall only be disclosed by competent authorities for medical reasons, on the request of any adopter, of the adoptee, his/her spouse or descendants or of the representative of some medical institution or hospital.
(4) After becoming legally emancipated, the adoptee shall become able to solicit the court in his/her area of residence or, in case the adoptee does not reside in Romania, The Bucharest Tribunal, to be granted authorised access to information in the possession of any public authority on his/her biological parents’ identity.
(5) The court will summon the Directorate in the child’s area of residence, the Office as well as any person whose hearing can be useful for the resolution of the petition and shall be able to admit the petition if, according to proof administered, it ascertains that access to solicited information is not harmful to the petitioner’s psychic integrity and emotional balance or in case the adoptee in question has received counselling from the Directorate.
(6) The court shall not be able to authorise access to information solicited under circumstances when biological parents have expressly requested that their identity be not disclosed.
Art. 59. – (1) Through adoption, the adoptee shall be given the last name of the adoptive parent.
(2) If the adoption is granted to a couple or to the spouse of the biological parent, and the spouses share the same last name, the adoptee shall bear that last name. In case the spouses do not share the same last name, they are obligated to declare to the court approving the adoption the last name the adoptee shall have.
(3) For well justified reasons, on adopter’s of adoptive family’s request and with consent of the child over 10 years of age the court, by granting the adoption, may decide on changing the adopted child’s forename.
(4) Should the spouse share the same name, the adopted spouse may bear the adopter’s name during marriage only on the other spouse consent, requested by the court approving adoption. In the absence of such consent, the adopted spouse may take the adopter’s name on the termination of the marriage through divorce, according to law.
(5) On the basis of the irrevocable court decision granting the adoption, the competent registry of births, marriages and deaths shall issue, in accordance with the law, a new birth certificate for the child, in which the adoptive parents shall be listed as his/her biological parents. The old birth certificate shall be kept, inscribed with a mention of the existence of the new document.
CHAPTER VI
Termination of the adoption
Art. 60. – (1) The adoption can end through termination or annulment.
(2) The requirements for the termination or annulment of adoption, shall follow the same rules of legal competency as those for the approval of an adoption.
Art. 61. – (1) The adoption may be terminated only if this/her is in the child’s best interest
(2) The adoption may be terminated:
a) on the request of the adoptive child older than 14, to receive assistance from the Directorate in his/her area of residence or, as the case may be, from the Directorate in the Bucharest municipality, on petition filing as well as during the entire procedure.
b) on the request of the Directorate of the child’s area of residence or
c) on Office request after having been notified by the the host state central authority or by the the authorized or accredited organization
(3) Causes for the termination of adoption are judged with the prosecutor’s mandatory participation and the summoning to court of the following:
a) the adopter or adoptive family, according to case;
b) the Directorate in the child’s area of residence or the Office in the case of inter-country adoptions;
c) the child over 10 years of age
Art. 62. – (1) The court shall also decide regarding the last name of the child after the termination of the adoption. Upon termination of the adoption, the adoptee is given back the last name he had before the approval of the adoption. However, upon termination of the adoption, for justified reasons, the court may allow the adoptee to keep the last name acquired through the adoption.
(2) Upon termination of the adoption, the Directorate in the child’s area of residence or, as the case may be, the Directorate in the Bucharest district no. 1 where the child resides regains parental rights and obligations, before another child protective measure is decided according to the law.
Art. 63. – (1) The adoption becomes liable to annulment if completed in violation of the terms stipulated in the law for the protection of the child’s best interest.
(2) Action for annulment falls with the adoptee and, up to acquiring limited capacity of exercise, action is started in his/her name by the Directorate of the child’s area of residence or, by the Office in case of inter-country adoption. The child who has become 14 shall be assisted by the Directorate or the Office, according to case, on petition formulation as well as during the entire procedure.
(3) Art. 61 par. (3) and Art. 62 provisions in the present law are applied accordingly.
Art. 64. – Court decisions regarding the termination or annulment of an adoption are not subject to appeal. The Directorate shall communicate decisions remaining irrevocable. to the Office so that the necessary mentions are inscribed in the National Register for Adoptions.
CHAPTER VII
Final and transitory provisions
Art. 65. – Donations, and sponsorships, as well as any undue material gains either directly or indirectly offered by the adopter or adoptive family in their own name or by means of intermediaries to the Office, Directorates involved or any natural persons in public institutions involved in the adoption process are forbidden.
Art. 66. – (1) The action of the child’s biological parent or guardian ad litem of soliciting or receiving, for him/herself or on behalf of another, money or any other material benefits for the adoption of the child, is punishable with a prison term of 2 to 7 years and the withdrawal of certain rights.
(2) The same penalty shall be given to the person who, without having the right to do so, intermediates or facilitates the adoption of a child, in exchange for obtaining material benefits.
Art. 67. – The petitions of families or persons wanting to adopt that are registered with the Romanian Adoptions Committee at the date of the coming into effect of this law, petitions that have been filed in accordance with the Government’s Emergency Ordinance No. 25/1997 regarding the adoption, approved by Law No. 87/1998, with later alterations and additions, shall be transferred in the records of the Office.
Art. 68. – (1) The certificate of the person/family able to adopt issued prior to the coming into effect of this/her law shall be valid for a period of one year after the date of its issue.
(2) The provisions of art. 20 shall be applied accordingly to the persons or families stipulated in par.(1).
Art. 69. – (1) The petitions for the approval of the adoption already on the court’s docket at the date of the coming into effect of this law shall be decided upon according to the legal provisions in effect at the date when the respective petitions were filed.
(2) Persons and families to whom children had been entrusted for adoption at the date of this law coming into force shall be able to file petitions for adoption to be solved according to Emergency Ordinance no. 25/1997 provisions, approved by law nr.87/1998, with later alterations and additions.
(3) In all other cases, the entire adoption procedure shall abide with present law provisions.
(4) To the purpose of applying present law provisions, the Office shall re-negotiate bi-lateral and multilateral agreements in the field of adoption Romania has drawn with other states.
Art. 70. – (1) In the case of children declared abandoned in accordance with Law No. 47/993 with regard to the court declaration of child abandonment, for whom the individualized protection plan has as an ultimate goal the child’s reintegration into the family, after the reintegration measure was decided, the child’s parents may petition the court to reinstate or parental rights.
(2) The court of law that is qualified to render decisions on the petitions for the reinstatement of parental rights is the tribunal in the area where the child resides.
(3) The petition shall be judged summoning the parents and the Directorate in the child’s area of residence to appear in court, with the mandatory participation of the prosecutor. The petition shall be attached the social enquiry report elaborated by the Directorate in the child’s area of residence.
Art. 71. – (1) The present law shall come into effect within 60 days of its publication on the Monitorul Oficial, Part I.
(2) With this law’s coming into effect, the following legislation shall be abrogated: Government Emergency Ordinance No. 25/1997 regarding the legal framework of the adoption, published in Monitorul Oficial, Part I no. 120 of June 12th 1997, approved by Law No. 87/1998 published in Monitorul Oficial, Part I no.198 of April 29th 1998 with later alterations and additions; Government Emergency Ordinance No. 121/2001 regarding the temporary suspension of all international adoptions procedures published in Monitorul Oficial, Part I no. 633 of October 9th 2001 approved by Law No. 347/2002 published in Monitorul Oficial, Part I no.425 of June 18th 2002 with later alterations and additions; Government Decision No. 502/1997 regarding the organization and functioning of the Romanian Committee for Adoptions published in Monitorul Oficial, Part I no.244 of September 18th 1997; Government Decision No. 245/1997 regarding the criteria of authorization for private organizations that carry out activities in the area of the protection of children’s rights through adoption published in Monitorul Oficial, Part I no.113 of June 6th 1997; Government Decision No. 1315/2000 regarding various measures for the protection of the child through adoption published in Monitorul Oficial, Part I no.678 of December 19th 2000; Law No. 47/1993 regarding the court’s decisions on child abandonment published in Monitorul Oficial, Part I no. 153 of July 8th 1993, as well as any other contrary legislation.
Art. 72. – Authorisations issued by the Romanian Committee for Adoptions based on Government Decision no. 245/1997 regarding criteria for the authorisation of private bodies carrying out activities in child protection through adoption, published in Monitorul Oficial, Part I no. 113 of June 6th 1197 hereby cease to be valid on the date of the present law coming into effect.
Art. 73. – Within 60 days of the publication of this law in the Monitorul Oficial, Part I the Office, in collaboration with the National Authority for the Protection of Children and Adoptions shall elaborate the methodological norms for its application, which shall be approved by Government decision.
Follow Us
