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1 -1. Short title and application.

(1) This Act may be cited as the Registration of Adoptions Act 1952 .

(2) This Act shall apply to West Malaysia only.

2 -2. Interpretation.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-

  "guardian"   means the person having the legal right to the custody of the child;

  "Registrar"   means a Registrar of Adoptions appointed under section 4 and includes a Deputy Registrar;

  "the Registrar-General"   means the person appointed to be Registrar-General of Births and Deaths, Malaysia in accordance with section 3(1) of the Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1957;

  "West Malaysia"   has the meaning assigned thereto in section 3 of the Interpretation Acts 1948 and 1967, and includes the Federal Territory.

3 -3. The Registrar-General.

The Registrar-General shall have general charge and supervision of all registers of adoptions kept under this Act and all Registrars of Adoptions shall be subject to his directions for the purposes of this Act.

4 -4. Appointment of Registrars of Adoptions.

(1) The Yang di-Pertuan Agong may appoint by name or office so many pubic officers or employees of the Commissioner appointed under section 3 of the Federal Capital Act 1960 as he thinks fit to be Registrars of Adoptions for the Federal

Territory or for such area as may be specified in the appointment for the purposes of this Act or to be and to act as the Deputy of any such Registrar when such Registrar is absent from the Federal Territory or area or is ill or when his office is temporarily vacant.

(2) The Ruler or the Yang di-Pertuan Negeri in a State may appoint so many public officers, by name or by office, to be Registrars of Adoptions for the State or for such area as may be specified in the appointment for the purposes of this Act or to be and to act as the Deputy of any such Registrar when such Registrar is absent from such State or area or is ill or when his office is temporarily vacant.

5 -5. Registrar's Register and note-book.

Every Registrar appointed under this Act shall keep a register in the form in the Second Schedule and he shall enter therein the particulars to be registered concerning the adoption and he shall also keep a book to be called the Registrar's note-book in which he shall record in his own hand all proceedings in respect of the registration of any adoption, the details of the identity of the adopted child, the name of the person adopting it, the name of the person, if any, consenting to the adoption and all evidence taken by him in any such proceeding under this Act.

6 -6. Registration of de facto adoptions.

(1) Where at the date when application for registration is made any child under the age of eighteen years who has never been married is in the custody of, and is being brought up, maintained and educated by any person, or by two spouses jointly, as his, her or their own child under any de facto adoption, and has for a period of not less than two years continuously and immediately before the date of such application been in such custody and has been so brought up, maintained and educated, the Registrar may, upon the application, in the form in the First Schedule, of such person or spouses, register the adoption if-

(a) such person or spouses and the child shall appear before the Registrar and shall produce to the Registrar such evidence either oral or documentary as may satisfy the Registrar that such adoption took place;

(b) the parents or one of the parents, or, if both the parents are dead or if

7 -7. Copies of registration to be delivered to applicant.

(1) Upon the registration of an adoption in accordance with section 6 a certified copy of the entry in the register signed by the Registrar shall be delivered or sent to the person or spouses who applied for such registration, and a certified copy of the entry in the register shall be sent, within such period as may be prescribed, to the Registrar-General; and all such certified copies shall constitute the adoption register of the Registrar- General.

(2) If the particulars contained in a certified copy of the entry in the register in respect of any adoption, upon being forwarded to the Registrar-General in accordance with subsection (1), appear to the Registrar-General to be identical with those of an adoption the registration of which has been cancelled in accordance with this Act, he shall return the said certified copy to the Registrar by whom it was sent together with particulars of the adoption the registration of which has been cancelled

8 -8. Parties and witnesses bound to speak the truth.

(1) Every person who gives evidence before the Registrar shall be bound to state the truth and to answer truthfully all questions which the Registrar may put to him.

(2) Any person who gives any evidence in any enquiry under this Act which he knows to be untrue, or who does any other act, which if done in a judicial proceeding would be punishable under Chapter XI of the Penal Code, shall be punishable on conviction as provided in that Chapter in the same way as if the act had been done in or in relation to a judicial proceeding.

9 -9. Powers of Registrar.

For the purposes of this Act every Registrar appointed under this Act shall have all the powers of a First Class Magistrate for the summoning and examination of witnesses and the administration of oaths and affirmations.

10 -10. Refusal of registration.

(1) If the Registrar is not satisfied of the truth of any statement made to him he may refuse to register the adoption or if he requires evidence with regard to any particulars required to be registered he may postpone registration and he may call for any further evidence that he thinks necessary:

Provided that the Registrar shall record in the Registrar's notebook his reasons for any such refusal or postponement.

(2) The Registrar shall not register any adoption unless the person applying for registration, or in the case of an application by two spouses, one of the spouses-

(a) has attained the age of twenty-five years and is at least eighteen years older than the child in respect of whom the application is made;

(b) has attained the age of twenty-one years and is a brother, sister, uncle or aunt, whether by consanguinity or affinity, of the child, or, if the child is illegitimate, a perso

11 -11. Validity of an adoption not affected by registration or nonregistration.

Neither the registration of nor the omission to register any adoption shall affect the validity of the adoption; and, provided that the identity of the adopted child, the person who adopted it and the consenting parties are established with reasonable certainty by the particulars recorded in the Registrar's note-book, no error in the particulars recorded in the Register nor any omission to record any particular which ought to have been recorded shall affect the validity of the registration of the adoption.

12 -12. Search for and certified copy of entry in adoption registers.

(1) The Registrar-General and every Registrar shall cause indices to be made of the registers of adoptions kept by them, and any person upon application to the Registrar-General or a Registrar, and upon payment of the prescribed fee shall be entitled to have a search made in the adoption register and index thereof, and to have a certified copy of any entry in such register.

(2) Every certified copy of any entry in a register of adoptions, if such copy purports to be signed by any person entrusted under this Act with the custody of any register of adoptions, shall be received for all purposes and in all courts as evidence of the adoption to which it relates, and, where the entry contains a record of the date of the birth of that adopted child, shall be received not only as evidence of the adoption but also as evidence of the date of the birth of the adopted child, without further proof of such register or of any entry therein or of such signatur

13 -13. Amendment of register.

(1) Any Registrar having custody of a register in which an adoption has been registered in accordance with this Act may, on application in the prescribed manner and on payment of the prescribed fee by the person or spouses who applied for such registration or by the child, amend the register by the correction of any error in the particulars contained therein; and where an entry in the register is so amended a certified copy of the amended entry in the register signed by the Registrar shall be delivered or sent to the person or spouses or to the child and a certified copy of the amended entry in the register shall be sent, within such period as may be prescribed, to the Registrar- General.

(2) The Attorney-General may apply to a Sessions Court to cancel the registration of any adoption in such manner as may be provided by rules made under the Rules Committee and the court shall send a copy of the order made in every such application to the Regis

14 -14. Offences and penalties.

Any person who forges any entry in any register kept or any certified copy of any entry therein given under this Act or who fraudulently or dishonestly uses as genuine any such certified copy which he knows or has reason to believe to be forged, shall be punishable on conviction with the penalty provided in section 466 of the Penal Code for offences punishable under that section or under section 471 of the Penal Code, as the case may be.

15 -15. Registrars to be public servants.

Every Registrar appointed under this Act shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of the Penal Code.

16 -16. Rules.

The Rules Committee may make rules for the purposes of this Act and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provision, may in particular make rules-

(a) prescribing the fees to be charged under this Act;

(b) prescribing the manner in which the Registrars shall exercise the powers conferred upon them by this Act;

(c) providing for the supply and custody of all registers and Registrar's note-books kept under this Act and their disposal; and

(d) generally for carrying out the purposes of this Act.