The role of lawyers, judges, country experts and officials in British asylum and immigration law

This paper examines the work of lawyers, judges and country experts involved in asylum and migration litigation. I begin by analysing their work in the wider semi-autonomous asylum field within which a number of powerful institutions operate to shape policy, define the roles of key actors and determine access to legal redress/justice by asylum applicants and migrants. To understand the work of these three legal actors, I analyse four very different types of legal cases involving asylum, foreign adoption and migration law. An analysis of these cases helps to identify the constraints on effective litigation on behalf of refugees and migrants against the British Home Office and it illustrates the fact that it is Home Office policy, and the decisions taken by Home Office officials, that created the injustice for the individuals concerned by blurring the ‘bright line’ differentiating between the rights of nationals and those of ‘foreigners’.

El reconocimiento incidental de una adopción internacional vinculado a la adquisición de la nacionalidad española: aspectos prácticos = The incidental recognition of an international adoption connected with the acquisition of Spanish nationality: practical aspects

Resumen: El art.27 LAI opera cuando se solicita la inscripción de la adopción ante el RCE. De la válida constitución de la adopción extranjera dependen situaciones como la adquisición de la nacionalidad española de origen por el adoptado, cuando el adoptante sea español (art.19 Cc). Conforme a los art.27 LAI y 19.1 Cc, el adoptado no adquirirá la nacionalidad española de origen si no se cumplen las exigencias del art.26 LAI. Al hilo de la RDGRN de 24 de Noviembre de 2017 (32ª), se abordarán las cuestiones que plantea el reconocimiento incidental de una adopción internacional vinculado a la adquisición de la nacionalidad española, por lo que respecta a los requisitos del art.26.3 y 5 LAI.Palabras clave: adopción internacional, nacionalidad, reconocimiento incidental, certificado de idoneidad.Abstract: The art.27 LAI operates when the registration of the adoption is applied for before the RCE. Other situations depend on the valid constitution of the foreign adoption, such as the acquisition of the Spanish nationality of origin by the adopted person, in those cases in which the adopter or adopters are Spanish, in accordance with art.19 Cc. Thus, according to arts.27 LAI and 19.1 Cc, the adopted person will not acquire the Spanish nationality of origin if have not complied with the requirements of art.26 LAI. In line with the RDGRN of 24th November 2017 (32nd), the issues raised by the incidental recognition of an international adoption linked to the acquisition of Spanish nationality will be addressed, as regards the requirements of art.26 .3 and 5 LAI.Keywords: international adoption, nationality, incidental recognition, certificate of suitability.

Unification of Conflict-of-Laws Rules in the Field of Adoption

The article examines the institution of international adoption within the framework of both domestic legislation and international legal regulation. The mechanism of conflict rules unification in the field of foreign adoption facilitates protection of the rights and interests of an adopted child to the greatest extent. The author refers to the Minsk Convention on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations in Civil, Family and Criminal Cases of 22 January 1993. The Minsk Convention stipulates that adoption and and its revocation are regulated under the laws of the adopter's citizenship. It also dwells on conditions supplementing this provision. The author analyzes the importance of concluding bilateral international treaties with respect of adoption and elucidates the content of international treaties. Thus, the Adoption Agreement between Russia and Italy focused on choosing adoptive parents. An obligatory condition for parents is registration of the adopted child in a consular office of the country of origin. The child obtains dual citizenship and can exercise the same rights and means of protection as other children who have the status of a citizen in the territory of the receiving state. The prohibition to adopt children from Russia is imposed only in relation to the US citizens, it does not affect international cooperation between Russia and other foreign states. The author believes that inclusion of conflict-of-laws rules into mutual legal assistance treaties concerning the issues of international adoption is unconditional. It is considered to be important for the cooperation between states in this area, as well as an excellent basis for further conclusion of bilateral treaties that will govern only foreign adoption.