“The Interests of the Child” in the Context of Adoption: A Comparative Analysis of International and National Law

This article offers a comparative legal analysis of the concept of “interests of the child” used in the context of international and national adoption. The relevance of the study is due to the need to protect the rights of children – one of the most vulnerable groups of the population, as well as the increasing number of cross-border adoptions. Currently, there is no single point of view in the scientific literature on the definition of the essence of the concept of “the interests of the child”, which can lead to several consequences: legal uncertainty; difficulties in international relations, increasing the risk of subjectivity; insufficient protection of the rights of the child. Based on the analysis of scientific literature, the authors highlight three points of view on defining the essence of the concept of “interests of the child”. In the future, it is proposed to consider the “interests of the child” at three levels: macro level (universal needs), meso level (taking into account ethnic, cultural and religious characteristics) and micro level (individual characteristics of the child). The article emphasizes the dynamics of changes in a child’s interests, which are transformed depending on age, health status, and other factors.