ADEQUACY OF THE LAW IN PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF ADOPTED CHILDREN IN MALAYSIA
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Date
2017-04-04Author
CHE SOH, ROSLINA
HAK, NORA ABDUL
HASHIM, NORAINI MD
SAID, MOHD HELMI
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Adoption is one of the means to protect children who have been deprived of parental care. The
United Nation Convention on Rights of Child guaranteed such protection and as in other action concerning
children, the principle of the best interest of the child must be primarily considered by the State
parties when dealing with the process of adoption. In Malaysia, adoption process is governed under two
main legislations, i.e. Adoption Act 1952 and Registration of Adoption Act 1952. This paper addresses
the extent of these legislations and practices of the Court in Malaysia in ensuring the best interest of the
child is guaranteed when dealing with adoption procedures and the protection provided after the adoption.
One of the main issues to be highlighted is concerning the citizenship of the adopted child, particularly
in a case where the child is not from Malaysia. Does the law give equal protection as provided to the
adopted child born in Malaysia? This paper uses a qualitative data collection method where in-depth
document analysis is carried out. Primary sources such as the Acts, Regulations, court orders and decision
are scrutinised. On the other hand, secondary sources that are studied include law reports, law reviews and
legal periodical articles. The study is significant as it addressed crucial concerns raised in reference to the
current laws relating to the protection of adopted children in Malaysia. The paper ends with some possible
recommendations that may spur improvement to the present legislations in ensuring that the rights of
adopted children in Malaysia are duly protected.