Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Re X and Y: Court of Appeal confirms no High Court inherent power to revoke adoption orders on welfare grounds; revocation on appeal; procedural irregularity exceptions, England and Wales

Published on: 20 February 2025

Published by a LexisNexis Family expert

Legal News

Article summary

Re X and Y [2025] EWCA Civ 2 What are the practical implications of this case?

This judgment carries considerable weight: the Court of Appeal determined that the court lacks power to annul or rescind an adoption order on welfare grounds, regardless of how persuasive the circumstances appear. The court stated that a poor outcome after adoption, and the fact that undoing the order would benefit the adoptee, whether minor or adult, does not justify the judiciary creating a remedy that Parliament has deliberately withheld. It underscores that adoption orders are transformative in nature, possess a unique finality, and are designed to be permanent, enduring for life as though the child were born to the adopter. The ruling aligns entirely with the strong policy position that adoption effects a total, lifelong and irrevocable transfer of parental status. However, where there have been substantive procedural defects in the making of the order, the court retains a limited ability to set it aside, even if any appeal would otherwise be out of time; such cases will be exceptional. This jurisdiction is reserved for rare situations where serious procedural missteps tainted the process, and it will seldom be exercised...

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