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The Registers

Document Cited authorities 15 Cited in Related
AuthorNasreen Pearce/Richard Budworth
Pages247-255

Chapter 19

The Registers

INTRODUCTION

19.1 Under ACA 2002, ss 77 and 78, the Registrar General is required to maintain, at the General Register Office (which is part of the Office for National Statistics at Smedley House, Trafalgar Road Birkdale, Southport, PR8 2HH, 01704 569824, www.ons.gov.uk) an Adopted Children Register, and an index to that register. No entries may be made in this register other than entries directed by the court in its adoption order or required to be made under ACA 2002, Sch 1 (ACA 2002, s 77(3)). The Adopted Children Register is not open to public inspection or search (ACA 2002, s 77(2)), but any person may search the index and obtain certified copies of any entry in the register. The Registrar General is not permitted to furnish any person with any information contained in, or with any copy or extract from, any such register, except in accordance with ACA 2002, s 78(3) or under an order of court. ACA 2002, s 78 provides the machinery whereby an adopted person might apply to the Registrar General for particulars to enable him to obtain a copy of his birth certificate, provided he is 18 years of age.

19.2 The question whether the adopted person’s right to information contained in the register was absolute or subject to public policy considerations has been addressed in a number of cases. The general principle is that the application for disclosure must be made on notice to the Registrar General, and the applicant has to establish the reasonableness of the order sought. The court nevertheless has a discretion whether to grant the application and may refuse disclosure on public policy grounds where, for example, the evidence shows that there was a real risk of a serious crime being committed or serious danger to a member of the public (Re H (Adoption: Disclosure of Information) [1995] 1 FLR 236; R v Registrar General ex parte Smith [1991] 1 FLR 255). In D v Registrar General [1997] 1 FLR 715, the court ruled that its discretion should be exercised only in exceptional circumstances and where an exceptional need for disclosure is established. This principle was applied by the court in FL v Registrar General [2010] EWHC 3520

248 Adoption Law: A Practical Guide

(Fam), when refusing the application to order disclosure. The above cases relate to adoption pre-ACA 2002, but the principles are equally applicable post-ACA 2002, and were considered in In the matter of X (Adopted Child: Access to Court File) [2014] EWFC 33. The High Court may also under its inherent jurisdiction make an order directing the Registrar General not to disclose details of an adoption which are recorded in the register without the court’s permission (Re X (A Minor) (Adoption Details: Disclosure) [1994] 2 FLR 450, CA; Re W (Adoption Details: Disclosure) [1998] 2 FLR 625). Where an order restricting disclosure is sought, an application should be made for the application to be transferred to a High Court judge (President’s Direction: Adopted Children Register: Restriction on Disclosure of 17 December 1998 [1999] 1 FLR 35).

19.3 The Adopted Children and Adoption Contact Registers Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/924) (ACACRR 2005) is the main regulation which applies to registration and the Adoption and Children Act Register (Search and Inspection) Regulations 2017 (SI 2017/978). It provides for the search and inspection of the Adoption and Children Act Register by prospective adopters who an adoption agency is satisfied are suitable to adopt a child in accordance with the AAR 2005.

THE ADOPTED CHILDREN REGISTER

Role of the Registrar General

19.4 The Registrar General is required to maintain in the General Register Office the Adopted Children Register, which contains details of the date, place and country of birth (or registration district) of the child. It also sets out the name, surname and sex of the child, and details of the adoptive parent(s) and the date the adoption order was made, or the adoption effected. Although this register is not open to public inspection or search (ACA 2002, s 77(2)), any person may search the index and obtain a certified copy of any entry in the Adopted Children Register subject to the terms, conditions and regulations as to payment of fees and otherwise, applicable under the Births...

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