Competing rights and contested futures. How child and parental rights influence questions of post-adoption contact in the UK courts

Introduction: court proceedings leading to the compulsory adoption of children in out-of-home care engage the rights of birth families, children and prospective adopters. This paper will explore how key rights provisions -the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights (ECHR) and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) - influence questions of post-adoption contact in the United Kingdom courts.

Aims and method: this paper reviews legal provisions relevant to post-adoption birth family contact, and reports on socio-legal analysis of selected case law to identify how rights and welfare are interpreted during public adoption proceedings, focusing particularly on the UK jurisdiction of Northern Ireland.

Results and discussion: courts’ decision-making about post-adoption contact is influenced by: UNCRC Article 3, the best interests of the child, Article 7, the importance of children knowing their parents; and the legal right to respect for private and family life (Article 8 ECHR). We examine how this respect is demonstrated in relation to each of the parties, and outline the reasoning used in courts to balance the apparently competing rights of birthparents, adopters, children and their siblings.

Implications: decisions about post-adoption contact made in court have life-long effects for children’s identity and belonging. Evidence-based principles for planning child-centred contact (eg. Neil and Beek) are reflected to some extent in court judgements, but there is an ongoing onus on adoption practitioners to propose plans that are purposeful, individualised, and take account of the particular needs, risks and strengths of the family.