Case No. NE21P00484-&-NE21P07404

”. (Underlining added for emphasis).39.Mr Murray in his helpful advice to the Court set out the legal issues comprehensively and opined (in line with MacDonald J’s analysis above) that:“In principle … it is clear that there is authority for the proposition that the court has jurisdiction under section 55A(1) of the Family Law Act 1986 and in an appropriate case, to grant to a birth parent in the position of the applicant a declaration of parentage in respect of a child following the lawful adoption of that child under the Part 1 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002.”40.He further advised that to rule otherwise would be to infringe the Human Rights of the applicants. He raised the persuasive point that while it is settled law that, both domestically and in Strasbourg, an adoption order will act to terminate the birth parents’ article 8 ECHR rights it not established that the child’s rights are similarly curtailed.41.He added:“It is arguable that the adoption order does not have the effect of generating an absolute termination of article 8 rights from the perspective of the child. This is particularly true in the present two applicants’ cases because of the issues which arise in respect of their potential for entitlement to a different nationality as a result of the grant of the declaration sought. There would be a coherent case to suggest in particular that an entitlement to share nationality with other members of one’s family (as is the case both for H and C) is part of one’s private and family life and therefore it is likely to be entitled to protection under the convention.”42.Ms Fottrell and Mr Murray considered whether in the circumstances obtaining here application can/should be made to the Registrar to amend the birth certificates of the applicants – per section 55A(7) FLA 1986.43.Section 55A(7) of the FLA 1986 imposes a mandatory requirement upon an officer of the court to notify the Registrar General, in such a manner and within such period as may be prescribed, of the making of a declaration under section 55A(1) of the FLA 1986. The prescribed period is now set out in rule 8.22 of the FPR 2010 i.e., 21 days beginning with the date on which the declaration was made (see Re H No.1 at §27).44.Section 14A of the BDRA 1953 confers a discretion on the Registrar General as follows: “(1) Where, in the case of a person whose birth has been registered in England and Wales— (a) the Registrar General receives, by virtue of section 55A(7) or 56(4) of the Family Law Act 1986, a notification of the making of a declaration of parentage in respect of that person; and (b) it appears to him that the birth of that person should be re–registered, he shall authorise the re–registration of that person’s birth, and the re–registration shall be effected in such manner and at such place as may be prescribed. (2) This section shall apply with the prescribed modifications in relation to births at sea of which a return is sent to the Registrar General.”45.The Registration of Births and Deaths Regulations 1987 provide the mechanism by which re-registration can be achieved. Every form of re-registration involves an amendment to the original birth certificate without erasing the original entry. The amendment either takes the form of additional words included on the certificate or a note in the margin; importantly the entry will include both the names of the father and the fact that the subject child (now an adult) has been adopted. This will be stamped on the birth certificate.