International Legal Framework for Adoption of Children

This article forms part of a doctoral research in progress on adoption and child’s right to identity. Its aim is, however, to introduce the general international law context of the institution of adoption, including the combined effects of various international norms. Conventions and international documents provide numerous requirements, protecting the rights of the child and the rights of adults involved. One should remember that the purpose of adoption is to provide a child with a safe and stable family environment. Noting the special position of the case law of the ECHR, the text presents the most important specialized international instruments, primarily: the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the HCCH 1993 Adoption Convention, and the European Adoption Conventions. Information about each convention will be provided to systematise the sources of law. In addition, individual institutions within child adoption will be examined with a view to how the analysed instruments include them. As part of the study, critical issues for adoption will be identified from the point of view of human rights and children’s rights standards. Consequently, the chapters of the paper deal with individual safeguards within child adoption: forming the basis of each decision about a child – the best interest principle, the subsidiary character of adoption and intercountry adoption, required consents for adoption, requirements for adoption procedure and adoptive parents, and the aspects of the child’s right to identity.