La réforme du droit de l’adoption internationale en Allemagne

Abstract

The German private international law on adoption has long been considered in need of reform. Above all, the criticism concerned the fact, that the (complex) connecting factor under the conflict of law rules, which primarily took into account the interests of the adopter(s), was n° longer up to date. A decision of the German Federal Constitutional Court finally gave the impulse for a reform of the conflict-of-law rules. The legislature had been instructed to implement a change in the substantive adoption law by 31 March 2020. The subject matter of the reform was the (previously excluded) stepchild adoption in non-marital partnerships. The corresponding change in substantive law resulted in a need for adaptation in private international law. On this occasion, the legislature took the opportunity to fundamentally reform the relevant regulations. The amendments came into force on 31 March 2020. An adoption in Germany is now always subject to German law. Otherwise, it is subject to the law of the state in which the person to be adopted has his or her habitual residence at the time of adoption. For potential requirements of consent, the old law provided for a supplementary connection to the national law of the person to be adopted. This is n° longer the case in the new law. The following article provides an overview of the new regulation and explains the background.