H v An Adoption Agency (No.2) (Declaration of Parentage and Public Policy) [2021] EWHC 1943 (Fam)
Lorraine Cavanagh QC led Eleanor Keehan in a case before Mr Justice MacDonald in H v An Adoption Agency (No.2) (Declaration of Parentage and Public Policy) [2021] EWHC 1943 (Fam). This follows MacDonald J’s previous decision H v An Adoption Agency [2020] EWFC 74.
The novel issue in this case was whether it was manifestly contrary to public policy to grant a declaration of parentage after the child has been adopted; the court concluded that it was. The Attorney-General intervened. The judgment contains an important distillation of the central public policy principles underpinning adoption in this jurisdiction and the intended inviolability of adoptive placements.
The most recent judgment can be read here. The previous judgment is available here.
