Queensland Consolidated Acts Queensland Consolidated Acts(1) For the purposes of the laws of Queensland, the adoption of a person in a non-convention country, being an adoption to which this section applies, has, so long as it has not been rescinded under the law of that country, the same effect as an adoption order under this Act.
(2) This section applies to an adoption in a non-convention country if--
(a) the adoption was effective according to the law of that country; and
(b) at the time at which the legal steps that resulted in the adoption were commenced, the adopter, or each of the adopters, was resident or domiciled in that country and had been so resident or domiciled for not less than 12 months; and
(c) in consequence of the adoption, the adopter or adopters had, or would (if the adopted person had been a young child) have had, immediately following the adoption, according to the law of that country, a right superior to that of any natural parent of the adopted person in respect of the custody of the adopted person; and
(d) under the law of that country the adopter or adopters were, by the adoption, placed generally in relation to the adopted person in the position of a parent or parents.
(4) Where in any proceedings before a court (including proceedings under section 39) the question arises whether an adoption is one to which this section applies, it shall be presumed, in the absence of proof to the contrary, that in relation to the adoption the conditions referred to in subsection (2) are satisfied and that the adoption has not been rescinded.
(5) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, a court (including a court dealing with an application under section 39) may refuse to recognise an adoption as being an adoption to which this section applies if it appears to the court that the procedure followed or the law applied in connection with the adoption involved a denial of natural justice or did not comply with the requirements of substantial justice.
(6) A document purporting to be the original or a certified copy of an order or record of adoption made by a court or a judicial or public authority in a non-convention country shall, upon its production, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be sufficient evidence--
(a) that the adoption was made in and is effective according to the law of that country; and
(b) that the adoption has not been rescinded.
(7) Except as provided in this section, the adoption of a person in a non-convention country does not have effect for the purposes of the laws of Queensland.
(8) Nothing in this section affects any right that was acquired by, or became vested in, a person before the commencement of this Act.