Application of O and P [2005] NSWSC 1297

New South Wales Supreme Court

Application of O and P [2005] NSWSC 1297 CITATION : This decision has been amended. Please see the end of the judgment for a list of the amendments.

HEARING DATE(S) : Application in Chambers

JUDGMENT DATE : 15 December 2005

JURISDICTION : Equity

JUDGMENT OF : Campbell J

DECISION : Change of name approved.

CATCHWORDS : FAMILY LAW AND CHILD WELFARE - adoption - name of child - change of name of child - whether Adoption Act prevents intending adoptive parents from calling child placed with them for adoption by a name other than his given name - construction of section 101 Adoption Act 2000 - whether ambiguity exists - whether extrinsic aids to construction permissible - meaning of "special reasons" - relevance of Article 8 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCROC) - meaning of Article 8 UNCROC - whether Article 8 UNCROC prohibits change of name of child upon adoption - whether special reasons for change of name demonstrated - whether permissible to give weight to the fact that parents have been calling child by a name different to his given name - INTERNATIONAL LAW - effect in Australian law of treaty which Australia has ratified but not enacted in legislation - construction of Article 8 UNCROC - whether changing a child's name upon adoption contravenes Article 8 UNCROC - principles for construction of treaties - use of travaux préparatoires - WORDS AND PHRASES - "special reasons"

Adoption Act 2000 LEGISLATION CITED : Adoption of Children Act 1965

Application of CP & JP – Child: S [2004] NSWSC 687 Attorney-General for Canada v Attorney-General for Ontario [1937] AC 326 Coleman v Power (2004) 78 ALJR 1166; (2004) 209 ALR 182 Director-General, Department of Community Services v The Adoptive Parents [2005] NSWCA 385 FAI Insurances Ltd v The Honourable Sir Henry Winneke and Others (1982) 151 CLR 342 Gourlay v Casey (1927) 38 CLR 586 Re H and the Adoption Act (2004) 62 NSWLR 245 Holpitt Pty Ltd v Varimu Pty Ltd (1991) 29 FCR 576; (1991) 103 ALR 684 Jess v Scott (1986) 12 FCR 187 Re KM and the Adoption Act 2000 [2005] NSWSC 896 King Investment Solutions v Hussain [2005] NSWSC 1076 Application of "M" and "S" [2004] NSWSC 203 sub nom Re M & Another (2004) 31 Fam LR 415 Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Another v Peko-Wallsend Limited and Others (1986) 162 CLR 24 CASES CITED : Minister for Community Services & Health v Chee Keong Thoo (1988) 78 ALR 307 Re Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs: Ex parte Lam (2003) 214 CLR 1; (2003) 195 ALR 502 Minister of State for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs v Ah Hin Teoh (1995) 183 CLR 273 Re MJR (2003) 31 Fam LR 50 R v The Australian Broadcasting Tribunal; Ex parte 2HD Proprietary Limited (1979) 144 CLR 45 Republic of Italy v Hambros Bank Limited [1950] 1 Ch 314 The State of New South Wales and Others v The Commonwealth of Australia and Carlton and Another (1983) 151 CLR 302 Water Conservation and Irrigation Commission (New South Wales) v Browning (1947) 74 CLR 492 Detrick, "The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child - a Guide to the "Travaux Préparatoires"", Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1992 Hodgson, "The Child's Right to a Legal Identity" (1993) 7 Australian Journal of Family Law 121 Avery, "A Return to Life: the Right to Identity and the Right to Identify Argentina's "Living Disappeared"" (2004) 27 Harvard Women's Law Journal 235 Stewart, "Interpreting the Child's Right to Identity in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child" (1992) 26 Family Law Quarterly 221 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties