Recent legislative changes make international adoption harder, CAPC

The Center for the Analysis and Prevention of Corruption (CAPC) examined the bill with amendments to a number of legislative acts on adoption and established that some of them contain corruptible elements, Info-Prim Neo reports. Expert Stela Pavlov told a news conference that some of the provisions are very good. They provide for the reduction in the adoption procedures from two years to one year and classify the children with the status of adoptable as children with and without special needs. However, the bill includes norms that lay down excessive requirements towards organizations dealing with international adoptions for exercising their rights. According to Stela Pavlov, when a person or an organization meets with obstacles in exercising their rights, they may resort to corruption methods. The CAPC considers the bill should be modified so that it does not allow excesses on the part of the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family in relation to the organizations specialized in international adoptions. Children’s ombudswoman Tamara Plamadeala said that a number of provisions on adoption are bureaucratized. “The state makes the children orphan for life. The adoption procedure lasts very long and everything is extremely bureaucratized,” she stated, adding that mechanisms are indeed necessary to prevent excesses on the part of the Ministry of Labor. CAPC president Galina Bostan said that when adopting legislative amendments, the authorities often do not intend to make them corruptible, but disregard some of the aspects and allow shortcomings. She believes that by the proposed changes, the Ministry of Labor promotes its departmental interests. The bill with amendments to a number of legislative acts on adoption was drafted by the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family and was already passed by Parliament in the first reading.