§ Mr. McElhoneI beg to move Amendment No. 78, in page 60, leave out line 21 and insert—
'(b) the sheriff court of the sheriffdom within which the child is'.
§ Mr. McElhoneIt is a purely drafting amendment. It adjusts the definition of "authorised court" contained in Clause 83(3)(b) of the Bill which establishes court jurisdiction in proceedings in relation to the adoption of a child in Scotland. The present definition provides that in the case of the sheriff court, the court authorised to hear and determine an application shall be that within whose jurisdiction the child is. The revised definition refers instead to the sheriff court of the sheriffdom within which the child is.
The present wording, "within whose jurisdiction", is clearly unsatisfactory, because the court's jurisdiction should not be defined in terms which use the word "jurisdiction" itself. The alternative wording chosen avoids this pitfall by relating jurisdiction to the physical presence of the child in the care of the sheriffdom.
Amendment No. 80 disapplies the definition of "authorised court" in Clause 83(3) for the purpose of applications to a court under Clause 29 and provides a separate definition for this purpose. The applications in question relate to the return of a child illegally removed from the possession of a person after application has been made, or notice given of intention to apply for an adoption of a "freeing for adoption" order under Part I of the Bill.
The terms of the new definition refer to the court where the application is 1527 pending or the sheriffdom where the applicant resides rather than where the child is. It is clearly desirable that the court with continuing jurisdiction in relation to the application for the child's adoption should be that where the child was at the time he was illegally removed. In the case where an application for adoption or freeing for adoption has been made, this is the court in which that application is pending. In the case where an application for adoption has not yet been made, it must relate to the area in which the applicant resides—the term "applicant" referring in this context not to an application for adoption, but to one under Clause 29 for return of the child.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ Amendments made: No. 79, in page 61, line 11, leave out '14(2) or (3)' and insert '14'.
§
No. 80, in page 61, line 16, at end insert:
'(9) Subsections (3) and (8) do not apply in the case of an application under section 29 in Scotland but for the purposes of such an application the following are authorised courts—
the court in which that application is pending;