No CrossRef data available.
Article contents
The Adoption Act of Sierra Leone
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 July 2009
Extract
The long-awaited Adoption Act was passed in 1989. The object of the Act as indicated in the objects and reasons of the Bill is to make provision for the adoption of juveniles by persons who are fit and willing to do so. Informal adoptions existed in Sierra Leone in a variety of situations but for the past decade there has been a growing realization that these arrangements needed a legal stamp in order to provide proper security for the child and for the adopters who often feared that the natural parent might claim possession of the child after a number of years of care by the adopters. The absence of any provision for legal adoption was a cause for concern for couples who wished to provide a permanent home for children who were not their natural children.
In the past lawyers have attempted to fill this vacuum by ensuring that the natural parent or parents executed a contract with supporting affidavits, where requisite, disclaiming all rights and liabilities towards the child. Such contracts were not strictly legal and lawyers therefore attempted to include a clause (which did not have legal validity) whereby the natural parent could resume his or her rights over the child only if he or she compensated the adopters for all expenses incurred during the child's upbringing. The size of the expenditure involved was often enough to discourage the natural parent's efforts to gain custody over the child.
- Type
- Articles
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies 1992
References
1 The Bill was subsequently enacted as the Adoption Act, 1989.Google Scholar
2 See for example the Agreement between Mr. & Mrs. B. and Miss V. 1985 Miscellaneous Documents Register.
3 See below.
4 Interview with Prince Doherty, Secretary to the Law Reform Commission.
5 Report of the Departmental Committee on the Adoption of Children, Cmnd. 5107, 1972, para. 14.Google Scholar
6 For custodianship orders see the Children Act, 1975, s. 33(1)Google Scholar.
7 Smart, H. M. Joko, Sierra Leone Customary Family Law, Fourah Bay College Bookshop Ltd., 1983.Google Scholar
8 Brooks v. Blount, [1923] 1 K.B. 257.Google Scholar
9 Humphrys v. Black, [1901] 2 K.B. 385.Google Scholar
10 Bevan, H. K., The Law Relating to Children, London, Butterworths.Google Scholar
11 Anoff v. Fofanah, (1967) 68 A.L.R. (S.L.) 357.Google Scholar
12 The Legitimacy Act, 1989 (No. 7), s. 21Google Scholar.
13 Interview with Albert Metzger, member of the Law Reform Commission.
14 Harrell-Bond, Barbara E. and Rijnsdorp, Ulrica, Family Law in Sierra Leone: A Research ReportGoogle Scholar.
15 Ss. 1, 2(2).
16 S. 1.
17 Adoption Act, 1958 (England) s. 1(1). The 1958 Act referred to “infants” which as the law then stood referred to anyone under 21. This was later reduced to 18.
18 S. 4(1) of the Interpretation Act (No. 8 of 1971) states that an infant means a person who has not attained the age of 21 years.
19 This was the position in England under the Act of 1958 but now, by the Children Act, 1975, the age limits where they exist start only at 21 years.
20 Adoption Act 1989 s. 1, para. 6.Google Scholar
21 Where a previous adoption order has been made.
22 Adoption Act, 1989 s. 1, para. 6(a).Google Scholar
23 In Re Clarke, (1964) 6 A.L.R. S.L. 270,Google ScholarAnoff v. Fofanah (1967) 8 A.L.R. S.L. 357.Google Scholar
24 This was the position under the Adoption Act, 1958.
25 Adoption Act, 1989 s. 13.
26 See above.
27 Harrell-Bond, op. cit.
28 Ss. 2(2), 2(3), 3(3).
29 S. 3(2).
30 S. 2(3) Adoption Act, 1958.
31 S. 3(4).
32 Re Adoption Application [1952] Ch. 16.Google Scholar
33 S. 4(1).
34 S. 4(4).
35 S. 4(3).
36 See Obi, S. N. C., Moden Family Law in Southern Nigeria, Sweet & Maxwell/Africa Universities Press, 1966.Google Scholar
37 S.6(1)(b).
38 S. 5(1).
39 The Adoption Law of Eastern Nigeria s. 6(1) provides that where a person has any rights or obligations in respect of the child concerned, whether this right or obligation arises from an order of court or from agreement or under customary law, or in any other way, the court may require the consent of such a person.
40 S. 5(2).
41 S. 12(1).
42 S. 12(2).
43 Ss. 14(1)(b) and (c), 15(1)(c).
44 Nicol v. Nicol C.C. 15/90 (unreported).
45 See above.
46 The Administration of Estates Act, Ch. 45 of the Laws of Sierra Leone.
47 Inter-Departmental Review of Adoption Law, “The Nature and Effect of Adoption”, issued by Department of Health, 09, 1990 (unpublished).Google Scholar
48 S. 16 states: “An Adoption order shall not have effect to make the adopted person a member of any clan, lineage or other group recognized under customary law and practice; but if the adopter is a person subject to customary law and practice then, as from the date of the adoption order, the adopted person shall be a person subject to customary law and practice (including those relating to intestacy) as applies in the case of the adopter shall apply in the case of the adopted person.”
49 Metzger, Albert, 23 07, 1990.Google Scholar
50 R.T. (an infant), “1963” Ch. 238;Google ScholarY. v. Y. (Child's Surname), [1973] Fam. 147.Google Scholar
51 Misc. Applic. 69/91, (unreported).
52 S.3(4)(c).
53 Provisions for appointment of guardian ad litem whose duties are to safeguard the interests of the infant before the court; Adoption Act, 1958 (England), s. 9(7).
54 Ss. 10(1)(e), (f).
55 In the matter of the application for an order for the adoption of O.A.L. (a juvenile).
56 In the matter of the application for the adoption of P.E., Misc. Applic. 46/91, (unreported ). In the matter of the application for an order for the adoption of S.S.B., Misc. App 1/91, (unreported).
57 In the matter of the application for the adoption of M.N.A., Misc. Applic. 71/91, (unreported).
58 Ibid.
59 In the matter of the application for the adoption of O.A.L.
60 Report of the Child Adoption Committee, First Report (1925), Cmnd. 2401, para. 15.Google Scholar
61 This is in almost identical terms to Adoption Act, 1976 (England), s. 6.
62 In the matter of an application for the adoption of P.E.
63 Ss. 4(2), 6(1)(a).
64 In the matter of an application for the adoption of O.A.L., and In the matter of an adoption of P.E.
65 The family including the juvenile has since migrated to America.
66 Adoption Act, 1976 (England), s. 6Google Scholar.
67 In the application for the adoption of C.D., Z.S. & C.J., Misc. Applic. 102/91, (unreported) and In the application for the adoption of C.P., Misc. Applic. 87/91 (unreported).
68 In the application for the adoption of C.D., Z.S. & C.J..
69 S. 4(2).
70 In the matter of the application for the adoption of S.S.B., In the matter of the application for the adoption of M.N.A., In the matter of the application for the adoption of O.A.L., In the matter of the application for the adoption of S.L.B.C., above.
71 In the matter of an application for the adoption of P.E.
72 In the matter of an application for the adoption of A.B.
73 In the matter of the application for the adoption of S.S.B.
74 “The Nature and Effect of Adoption.”
75 Report of the Departmental Committee on the Adoption of Children.