[Hindopia]

Okay. Round 4. I wish to submit the latest, and hopefully the last, version of the International Adoption Act, now under the category of "Human Rights" since so many people wished it so. I put this proposal to you, my fellow IDUer's, for you opinion on the legality of the category and to fine tune any errors in the text that I may have overlooked.

The World Assembly,

RECOGNIZING every child?s need for the provision of adequate care, nourishment, clothing, shelter and protection from abuse, and to be provided with adequate education and medical care;

UNDERSTANDING that international adoption may be a child?s only chance at achieving those needs;

CONVINCED that an unregulated international adoption process will inevitably result in the rights of the disadvantaged, especially the child, being neglected and disrespected;

COGNIZANT of the methods and the effects of children being taken unwillingly away from their families;

DEFINING FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS RESOLUTION:
- INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION: the process in which a child residing in one Member State is adopted by prospective parents residing in another Member State;

- ACCREDITED AUTHORITY: an agency or department of government that handles all international adoptions in a nation and ensures that those adoptions adhere to the terms of this resolution;

- COUNTRY OF ORIGIN (CoO): The country from which an international adoptee originated from;

(I) REQUIRES:
(1) Member states to create an accredited authority, or allow an existing agency similar in function to be appointed to the role, to oversee all international adoptions taking place in that nation. This accredited authority may be created as a new agency or added on to an existing department of government or agency. Member States having more than one system of law, such as Federal States or States having autonomous territorial units, may delegate this responsibility to the governments of these subdivisions;

(2) All records of international adoption to be preserved by Member States. Any child adopted by way of international adoption seeking records pertaining to their adoption must be granted full access to said records;


(II) MANDATES THAT ALL INVOLVED ACCREDITED AUTHORITIES:
(1) Shall ensure that no party involved has been coerced into participating in the process of international adoption, nor has received financial or compensatory incentive to pursue the adoption, with the exception of legitimate fees resulting from the process;

(2) Shall take appropriate measures to ensure that no adoption is made with intent to commit a criminal offence;

(3) Shall ensure that the child meets all the minimum requirements for adoption, as determined by law in that country;

(4) Shall ensure that all responsible parties involved are deemed legally competent adults under both nations? laws to proceed with the adoption;

(5) Shall ensure that all parties involved in the adoption understand (with the exception of infants and small children not yet at an age of understanding) what the process will entail, and that all parties involved expressly give their consent to the adoption in writing;

(6) Shall ensure that the prospective parents have no criminal records and are mentally, physically and financially capable of supporting the adoptee;

(III) SAFEGUARDS THE RIGHT:
(1) Of a person adopted by way of international adoption to knowledge of his/her CoO and the cultures contained therein;

(2) Of anyone adopted by way of international adoption to return to his/her CoO. The person must have reached the age of majority as determined by law in both his/her CoO and nation of residence and have satisfied all minimum requirements for emigration as determined by law in both nations.


EDIT: I realise that the text is over 3,500 character and will bring it down once it has been nitpicked.

[Embolalia]

I see one big issue that will come up. A lot of people, myself included, think some care should be taken around the issue of adoptee access to adoption records. The idea is, a lot of parents giving their children up for adoption don't want that child to find them again. For example, if that child was the product of a rape, they don't want to have that child coming back into their life to remind them of that traumatic experience.
At the same time, there is, IRL, some contention over people not being able to find their adoptive parents, despite the parents also wanting to find their child.
My recommendation, if you end up having space for it, would be to set up some sort of way wherein parents could indicate to their adoption provider, and children to theirs, that they would like to make contact. Should both parties agree, the contact will be arranged.

I also might recommend the creation of an agency within the WA to facilitate the connections between national agencies. This could also help with the connection service I mentioned before.

As far as paring it down, the RESOLVES clause isn't really needed. I don't know that you really need to do all that stuff about federalism. It's usually assumed that there is at least some level of national government within WA states. MANDATES I doesn't really need the "legally capable bit", because presumably those not legally capable shouldn't be coerced either, or even adopting for that matter. It can also be combined with III, something like "Shall ensure that no party involved has been coerced into participating in the process of international adoption, nor has received financial or compensatory incentive to pursue the adoption, with the exception of legitimate fees resulting from the process ;"

[Hindopia]

Quote: I see one big issue that will come up. A lot of people, myself included, think some care should be taken around the issue of adoptee access to adoption records. The idea is, a lot of parents giving their children up for adoption don't want that child to find them again. For example, if that child was the product of a rape, they don't want to have that child coming back into their life to remind them of that traumatic experience.
At the same time, there is, IRL, some contention over people not being able to find their adoptive parents, despite the parents also wanting to find their child.
My recommendation, if you end up having space for it, would be to set up some sort of way wherein parents could indicate to their adoption provider, and children to theirs, that they would like to make contact. Should both parties agree, the contact will be arranged.[/quote]
I think the suggestion you have made here is quite acceptable. It will be included in the final draft should I be able to make room for it.

Quote: I also might recommend the creation of an agency within the WA to facilitate the connections between national agencies. This could also help with the connection service I mentioned before.[/quote]
I was thinking before about including a clause that allows records to be stored with a branch of the Universal Library Coalition (WA Resolution #78).

Quote: As far as paring it down, the RESOLVES clause isn't really needed. I don't know that you really need to do all that stuff about federalism. It's usually assumed that there is at least some level of national government within WA states. MANDATES I doesn't really need the "legally capable bit", because presumably those not legally capable shouldn't be coerced either, or even adopting for that matter. It can also be combined with III, something like "Shall ensure that no party involved has been coerced into participating in the process of international adoption, nor has received financial or compensatory incentive to pursue the adoption, with the exception of legitimate fees resulting from the process[/quote]
The RESOLVING clause is unnecessary, and as such will be removed.
MANDATES (I) was only there to ensure that the parents/guardians of a child were not forced into giving up their child for adoption. However, the "legally capable" part of the clause is not necessary and will be removed (unless there are any objections?).
I was actually considering doing this last point, but never got around to it for some reason. Now done.

Thank you very much, Embolalia.

Any others?

[Embolalia]

Quote: I was thinking before about including a clause that allows records to be stored with a branch of the Universal Library Coalition (WA Resolution #78). [/quote]
This would be illegal. You can't make a proposal depend upon a passed resolution. (If GAR78 gets repealed, it brings yours into question. There were a bunch of problems with this in the UnNamed, so they just banned it outright)

[Hindopia]

No there is a rule that states you can rely on a committee formed by another resolution. If said resolution is ever repealed then the committee stays, just in a reduced capacity. I'll try and find the link.

EDIT: Here is an excerpt from the "Rules for GA Proposals:
Quote: A Proposal must be able to stand on its own even if all referenced Resolutions were struck from existance; however, you may assign duties to an existing committee. Should the Resolution that creates the committe be Repealed, the committee will continue to exist, but in a reduced capacity.[/quote]

[Embolalia]

Ah. I did not know that. Never mind....