Re In The Matter Of David Meyer Sempijja (Family Cause No. 83 of 2010)

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

The High Court held that in exceptional circumstances, non-citizen applicants who do not fulfill the residence and fostering requirements under section 46 of the Children Act may be granted an adoption order where it is in the welfare of the child. The child's serious health condition requiring urgent specialized medical treatment in the United States constituted exceptional circumstances justifying the grant of adoption despite the applicants not having resided in Uganda for three years or fostered the child for 36 months.

Outcome

Adoption order granted to American citizen applicants for Ugandan infant

Facts

American citizens Andrea Castille Gilkerson and Seth Wayne Gilkerson, a married couple residing in Missouri, USA, applied to adopt a one-year-old Ugandan infant, David Meyer Ssempijja. The applicants had previously been granted a guardianship order in Family Cause No. 39 of 2010. After taking custody, medical examination revealed the child suffered from Pulmonary Tuberculosis and was underweight, requiring specialized medical treatment. The child's mother had abandoned him and her whereabouts were unknown. The father, unable to care for the child, consented to the adoption. The applicants were 38 and 34 years old respectively, had no criminal record, were employed, had life insurance to provide for the child, and had been recommended as suitable adoptive parents by authorities in their home country. However, they had neither resided in Uganda for three years nor fostered the child for 36 months as required under section 46(1)(a) and (b) of the Children Act.

Issues

1. Whether non-citizen applicants who have not resided in Uganda for three years nor fostered the child for 36 months can be granted an adoption order under exceptional circumstances.
2. Whether the welfare of the child justifies the court exercising its discretion to grant adoption despite non-compliance with all requirements under section 46 of the Children Act.

Orders

• Application allowed.
• Applicants appointed adoptive parents of the child with full parental rights and responsibilities.
• Applicants directed to register the order with the Registrar of Documents, Uganda Registration Services Bureau, Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Kampala.
• Applicants directed to register the order with the United States Embassy in Uganda and the Ugandan Embassy in Washington.
• Applicants permitted to travel out of Uganda with the child.
• Petitioners directed to register the order with the authority responsible for family and children welfare in Harrisville Missouri, USA.
• Petitioners directed to file a report once every year regarding the state of welfare and development of the child with the Registrar, Family Division of Uganda at Kampala until the child is 18 years of age or until directed otherwise.
• No order as to costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Legislation cited (15)

• Constitution of Uganda 1995 Article 139(1)
• Constitution of Uganda 1995 Article 34
• Judicature Act Cap 13 s.15
• Judicature Act Cap 13 s.14
• Judicature Act Cap 13 s.33
• Judicature Act Cap 13 s.39
• Children Act Cap 59 s.3
• Children Act Cap 59 s.4
• Children Act Cap 59 s.5
• Children Act Cap 59 s.46
• Children Act Cap 59 s.44(b)
• Children Act Cap 59 s.45(1)(a)
• Children Act Cap 59 s.45(1)(b)
• Children Act Cap 59 s.46(1)
• Children Act Cap 59 s.47

Cases cited (2)

• Re Paula Robertson and Cynthia June Robertson (Adoption Cause No. 3 of 2004)
• Re Mukisa Joseph and Nambi Daisy (Adoption Cause No. 145 of 2009)

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