Hong Kong Ordinances

ADOPTION ORDINANCE - SECT 17

Effect of adoption outside Hong Kong

(Past version on 30/06/1997).

(1) Where a person has been adopted, whether before or after the coming into
operation of this section, in any place outside Hong Kong according to the law
of that place, and the adoption is one to which this section applies, then for
the purposes of this Ordinance and all other Hong Kong enactments, the
adoption shall have the same effect as an adoption order validly made in
accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance, and shall have no other
effect.

(2) Subsection (1) shall apply to an adoption in any place outside Hong Kong
(other than a Convention adoption), if- (Amended 28 of 2004 s. 20)

   (a)  the adoption is legally valid according to the law of that place; and

   (b)  in consequence of the adoption, the adoptive parents or any adoptive
        parent had, or, if the adopted person had been a young child, would
        have had, immediately following the adoption, according to the law of
        that place, a right superior to that of any birth parent of the
        adopted person in respect of the custody of the person; and (Amended
        28 of 2004 s. 20)

   (c)  either-

        (i)    the adoption order was made by an order of any Court whatsoever
               of a Commonwealth country or of the United States of America or
               of any State or territory of the United States of America; or

        (ii)   in consequence of the adoption, the adoptive parents or any
               adoptive parent had immediately following the adoption,
               according to the law of that place, a right superior to or
               equal with that of any birth parent in respect of any property
               of the adopted person which was capable of passing to the
               parents or any parent of the person in the event of the person
               dying intestate without other next of kin and domiciled in the
               place where the adoption was made and a national of the State
               which had jurisdiction in respect of that place, but not
               otherwise. (Amended 28 of 2004 s. 20)

(3) Nothing in this section shall restrict or alter the effect of any other
adoption made in any place outside Hong Kong.

(4) In this section, the expression “Convention adoption” (公約領養)
shall have the meaning assigned to it by paragraph (b) of the definition of
the expression in section 20A(1) as if the reference to “section 20F” in
that paragraph were a reference to “section 17”. (Added 28 of 2004 s. 20)
(Added 21 of 1960 s. 7) “Convention adoption” (公約領養)