ADOPTION ACT 1993 - SECT 57M Declaration of validity of adoption order made outside Australia

ADOPTION ACT 1993 - SECT 57M

    (1)     Any of the parties to an adoption order made in a country outside Australia may apply to the court for a declaration that the order complies with section 57L.

    (2)     On an application under this section, the court may—

        (a)     direct that notice of the application be given to the people (including the Attorney-General) that the court thinks fit; or

        (b)     direct that a person be made a party to the application; or

        (c)     permit a person having an interest in the matter to intervene in, and become a party to, the proceeding.

    (3)     If the court makes a declaration under this section, it may include in the declaration the particulars in relation to the adoption, the adopted person and the adoptive parent or parents that the court finds to be established.

    (4)     For the law of the Territory, a declaration under this section binds—

        (a)     the Territory, whether or not notice was given to the Attorney-General; and

        (b)     a person who was a party to the proceeding for the declaration or a person claiming through a party to the proceeding; and

        (c)     a person to whom notice of the application for the declaration was given or a person claiming through a person given notice.

    (5)     For the law of the Territory, a declaration under this section does not affect—

        (a)     the rights of a person not mentioned in subsection (4); or

        (b)     an earlier judgment, order or decree of a court or other body of competent jurisdiction.

    (6)     In a proceeding in a court of the Territory, the production of a certified copy of a declaration made under this section is evidence—

        (a)     of the facts stated in, and the matters appearing from, the order mentioned in subsection (1); and

        (b)     that the adoption complies with section 57L.