In Re Hodgkins Olivia (an infant) (Family Cause No. 132 of 2009)

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

Citator coverage is limited to judgments in the Wakilii corpus and source-matched treatment records. Absence of a signal is not an assertion that the case remains good law.

Holding

Held that Canadian couple should be appointed legal guardians of an abandoned one-year-old infant with permission to take the child to Canada. The welfare of the child under section 3 of the Children Act is paramount. The applicants were suitable guardians—married, gainfully employed, with two other children, home assessed as suitable for adoption, and able to provide a stable family home. Growing up in a family home is in the child's best interests rather than remaining in institutional care.

Outcome

Applicants appointed legal guardians with full parental rights and permitted to relocate child to Canada

Facts

An infant girl, Hodgkins Olivia, was born on 12 June 2008. Her mother, Nabirye Regina, abandoned her at Bugembe, Budumbuli, Jinja and disappeared. The Child and Family Protection Unit, Jinja Police, referred the matter to the Probation Office. On 13 August 2008, the Probation and Social Welfare Officer referred the infant to Welcome Home Ministries for custody. On 13 October 2008, the Family and Children Court, Jinja committed the infant to the care of Welcome Home Ministries by care order. The infant's photograph was advertised in the New Vision newspaper on 14 September 2009 in an attempt to locate her parents, but no one came forward. Franklin Guillaume and Denise Jo-Anne Guillaume, a married Canadian couple with two children, applied for appointment as legal guardians. They are gainfully employed, have clear criminal records, and their home in Alberta, Canada has been assessed as suitable for adoptive purposes.

Issues

1. Whether the grant of legal guardianship will be for the welfare of the child and in her best interest.
2. Whether the applicants will be suitable guardians for the child.

Orders

• The applicants Franklin Guillaume and Denise Jo-Anne Guillaume are appointed legal guardians of the child, Olivia Hodgkins, with full parental rights and responsibilities.
• The applicants are directed to register the order with the Registrar of Documents, Uganda Registration Services Bureau, Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Kampala.
• The applicants are directed to register the order with the Canadian Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya and the Ugandan Embassy in Canada.
• The applicants are directed to obtain a Ugandan passport for the child and to renew it from time to time as required by the law.
• The applicants are permitted to travel out of Uganda and live with the child in Canada.
• The applicants are directed to register the order with the authority responsible for children and family welfare in Alberta, Canada and to file a report once every year, with the Registrar, Family Division, High Court, Kampala, regarding the development and state of the welfare of the child and to continue to do so until the child is 18 years of age or until directed otherwise.
• The court makes no order as to costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Legislation cited (8)

• Constitution of the Republic of Uganda 1995 Article 139(1)
• Judicature Act Cap 13 s.14
• Judicature Act Cap 13 s.33
• Judicature Act Cap 13 s.39
• Children Act Cap 59 s.2
• Children Act Cap 59 s.3
• Children Act Cap 59 First Schedule paragraph 1(b)
• Civil Procedure Act s.98

The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.