Statutes
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1959.tb00557.x |
| Author | O. M. Stone |
| Published date | 01 September 1959 |
| Date | 01 September 1959 |
STATUTES
THE ADOPTION ACT,
1958
APRIL
1959
may
be
said to mark the
full
maturity of legal adoption
in the United Kingdom as October
1950
celebrated its majority.a
Technically the Adoption Act,
1958,'
is
a consolidating statute,
but such a description may be misleading as, although
it
consolidates
with the previous law Part
I1
of the Children Act,
1958,4
the
Children Act,
1958,
and the Adoption Act,
1958,
both came into
operation
on
April
1,
1959;
Part
I1
of the Children Act,
1958,
therefore never achieved independent operation. The opportunity
has been taken to sweep clean from April last the whole of the
adoption law; new Rules came into effect in England
on
April
replacing those which,
in
the county court and juvenile court,
had remained in operation since before
1950;
new Regulationso
came into operation
on
April
17.
The majority of the amendments
made by the Act and other instruments result from the recommenda-
tions made in
1954
by the Hurst Committee,' but some of the
Committee's recommendations have not been implemented, and a
few independent changes have been made.
Consents to adoption
Some outstanding amendments concern the consents required
before children8 may be adopted. The Adoption Act,
1958,
s.
4,
which enumerates the persons whose consent is required,
no
longer
includes any person liable by virtue of an order
or
agreement to contri-
bute to the child's maintenance.
In
practice this has generally
1
The Adoption Act,
1950,
came into operation on October
1,
1950.
2
In England and Wales, legal adoption
was
recognised from January
1, 1927,
under the Adoption of Children Act,
1926;
in Scotland from January
1,
1931,
under the Adoption
of
Children (Scotland) Act,
1930.
J
7
Eliz.
2,
c.
5.
4
6
&
7
Eliz.
9,
c.
65.
5
S.T.
1959,
No.
479
(High Court) replacing
S.I.
1950.
Nos.
80
and
282;
No.
480
(Coiinty Court) replacing
S.I.
1949,
No.
2397
and
1952,
No.
1258;
No.
504
(.Juvenile Court) replacing
S.I.
1919,
No.
2397
and
1952,
No.
554.
0
S.I.
1959,
No.
639.
7
'I'he Departmental Committee on the Adoption of Children appointed on
January
26, 1953,
under the chairmanship
of
Sir Gerald Hurst,
Q.o.,
T.D.,
whase report, Cmd.
9248:,
was presented
to
Parliament in September
1954.
This will be referred to as The Act and
statutory instruments generally refer to the
adont$
perm?
asa,"
the inf;Ft,"
hut sometimes,
e.q..
8.
28 (2).
8.
37
(I),
the words child or childry
are
iifietl. Since before adoption the infant is frequently
''
a
protected child
(8.
37)
and thereafter his relationship to the adopter is
"as
if the infant were a
child horn to the adopter in lawful wedlock
"
(8.
13
(I)),
thereafs perh:ps some
atatutory jq+.ation, albeit flimey,
for
the use
of
the word instead
of
''
infant
the Committee."
8
Only an unmarried infant may be adopted in Great Britain.
child
throughout this note.
500
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