Africa-Press – Mauritius. The first in a series of consultative workshop on the draft Adoption Bill, organised by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Welfare, kicked off this morning at La Cannelle in Domaine Les Pailles. The Minister of Gender Equality and Family Welfare, Mrs Kalpana Devi Koonjoo-Shah, was present at the opening ceremony.
The first workshop targeted public sector officials who were invited to give their views on the draft Adoption Bill, which would update the country’s legislation and bring it in line with best practices.
Presently, the law for adoption, governed under the Code Civil Mauricien, provides three different avenues for adoption namely adoption simple, adoption plénière and legitimation par adoption, and for the adoption of a Mauritian child by a foreigner, and the adoption of a foreign child by a Mauritian citizen.
It is also noted that the National Adoption Council Act 1987 made provision for the establishment of a National Adoption Council to, among others, inquire into all demands for the adoption of citizens by non-citizens before any application is made to the Judge in Chambers and to advise the Minister on all matters relating to demands for adoption.
In her remarks, the Minister of Gender Equality and Family Welfare stated that all children deserve to get the right to be raised by families who provide lifelong unconditional love, affection and stability.
She thus underlined the importance of reviewing the whole adoption process, be it local adoption or intercountry adoption, while ensuring the best interests of the child and aligning with standard practices at both local and international levels.
According to Mrs Koonjoo-Shah, the draft Bill, prepared with the support of the European Union, defines adoption as a measure that creates a permanent parent-child relationship between the adoptee and the adoptive parents, and provides that the child should be adopted by a next of kin.
“Only when all possibilities for local adoption have been exhausted, that the child may be given in intercountry adoption”, pointed out the Minister. The different provisions of the Bill were furthermore detailed by Mrs Koonjoo-Shah.
Hence, the new legislation on adoption should be able to domesticate the provisions of the 1993 Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of intercountry adoption, to which Mauritius acceded on 29 May 1993, she said.
The Minister added that the draft Bill focuses on the consent of the child as recommended under the Hague Convention, and the setting up of a National Child Adoption Agency which will act as the Central Authority on matters pertaining to child adoption.
