Aboriginal Custom Adoption Recognition Act
Consolidated act- Citation
- S.N.W.T. 1994, c.26
- Source
- Unofficial consolidation PDF (justice.gov.nt.ca)
This is an unofficial reading copy parsed from the Department of Justice consolidation PDF above — itself an office consolidation, not an official statement of the law. The authoritative text is in the Revised Statutes of the Northwest Territories, 1988 and the annual Statutes volumes.
- s.3 amended by An Act to Amend the Vital Statistics Act
- s.5 amended by S.N.W.T. 1998, c.17,s.1
- s.8 repealed by Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2010
Whereas aboriginal customary law in the Territories includes law respecting adoptions;
And desiring, without changing aboriginal customary law respecting adoptions, to set out a simple procedure by which a custom adoption may be respected and recognized and a certificate recognizing the adoption will be issued having the effect of an order of a court of competent jurisdiction in the Territories so that birth registrations can be appropriately altered in the Territories and other jurisdictions in Canada;
The Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly, enacts as follows:
Definition: "Registrar General"
1.In this Act, "Registrar General" means the Registrar General of Vital Statistics appointed under the Vital Statistics Act.
Application for certificate
2.(1) A person who has adopted a child in accordance with aboriginal customary law may apply to a custom adoption commissioner for a certificate recognizing the adoption.
(2) A person applying for a certificate must provide the following information to the custom adoption commissioner:
(a) with respect to the child, the name given at birth and the current name, date of birth and of adoption, place of birth, sex and the names of the mother and father, so far as is known;
(b) a statement by the adoptive parents and any other person who is, under aboriginal customary law, interested in the adoption that the child was adopted in accordance with aboriginal customary law.
(3) An application may be made under subsection (1) before or after the child attains 19 years of age.
Duties on receipt of information
3.(1) On receipt of the information provided under subsection 2(2) and a certified copy of the registration of the birth, the custom adoption commissioner shall determine whether the information is complete and in order.
(2) Where the custom adoption commissioner determines that the information is complete and in order, he or she shall
(a) prepare a certificate, in the prescribed form, recognizing the custom adoption and recording any change made to the adopted child’s name; and
(b) file the certificate in the Supreme Court.
(3) A certificate must identify the child by reference to his or her given names, or single name, before the adoption and the number given to the registration of the child’s birth.
(4) The custom adoption commissioner shall decline to issue a certificate where the custom adoption commissioner
(a) is of the opinion that the required information has not been provided or is not complete; or
(b) is not satisfied that the child was adopted in accordance with aboriginal customary law.
Deemed order of Supreme Court
4.A certificate filed in the Supreme Court under paragraph 3(2)(b) shall, for all purposes, be deemed to be an order of the Supreme Court.
Duties of Clerk respecting certificate
5.(1) Where a certificate is filed under paragraph 3(2)(b), the Clerk of the Supreme Court shall cause a sufficient number of certified copies of the certificate to be made and shall transmit
(a) one certified copy or, where the adopted child was born outside the Territories, two certified copies of the certificate to the Registrar General, together with such other information as the Registrar General requires to enable him or her to carry out the requirements of the Vital Statistics Act; and
(b) one certified copy to the Registrar of the Adoption Registry appointed under the Adoption Act.
(2) A certificate filed under paragraph 3(2)(b) shall not be put in a sealed packet. S.N.W.T. 1998, c.17,s.1.
Appointment of adoption commissioners
6.The Minister may appoint as custom adoption commissioners, one or more persons who, in the opinion of the Minister, have a knowledge and understanding of aboriginal customary law in the community or region in which they reside.
Regulations
7.The Commissioner in Executive Council may make regulations
(a) respecting the provision of, or application for, a certified copy of a birth registration, waiving any fee set under the Vital Statistics Act for a certified copy of a birth registration and prescribing the form of application that may be submitted to the Registrar General for a certified copy of a birth registration;
(b) prescribing the form of the certificate referred to in paragraph 3(2)(a); and
(c) respecting any matter the Commissioner in Executive Council considers necessary for carrying out the purposes of this Act.
- 9. Repealed, S.N.W.T. 2010,c.16,Sch.B,s1.